A consultation on Enfield Council’s proposal to shut eight libraries across the borough is currently ongoing, reports James Cracknell and Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Bullsmoor Library is one of those earmarked for closure

Enfield Council’s plan to close eight of the borough’s libraries has provoked a backlash from residents, community groups, opposition councillors – and even a gym owner.

The Dispatch revealed last month that Bullsmoor, Enfield Highway, Enfield Island Village, Bowes Road, Southgate, Winchmore Hill, Oakwood, and John Jackson libraries were all facing the axe early next year as the civic centre faces another big budget gap in 2025, with the move set to save up to £630,000 per year and generate an estimated £3.25million from property sales.

A public consultation on the closures has now been launched and continues until 14th November.

Opposition Conservative councillors submitted a ‘call in’ request in August, but failed to persuade the Labour administration to rethink the decision despite claiming it would contradict the council’s own policies on tackling poverty and inequality.

The Tories have since launched a petition against the library closures.

Residents reacting with anger to the news included Oliver Coombes, who described it on social media as “a disgraceful proposal”, while Dave Cockle, chair of The Enfield Society, expressed alarm at the library closures and told the Dispatch: “We appreciate the dire financial situation the council is in, but this seems a bit extreme.

“We regard local libraries as an important community resource and will press the council to consider alternative options to closure.”

The Dispatch was also later contacted by the owner of Fitness Hub 21, a community gym which has leased a space within Winchmore Hill Library for the past eight years. Lisa Hawkins said she wasn’t made aware of the closure plans until reading about it in the paper and said: “As a tiny business we can’t afford high street leases, this is how we started. We have been through a lot in the last eight years, we survived Covid 19 at a time when the library was closed, but we were able to stay open.

“We went from 32 to 150 members from 2021 to 2024 and they are all Enfield residents. They want something more than a gym, they want something refined and there is nothing in the area that is doing what we are doing. If we move anywhere else we will lose 90% of what we have, there are a lot of people who walk to our gym.”

Local Conservatives have vowed to oppose the library closures. Cockfosters councillor Ruby Sampson wrote on social media: “Enfield’s libraries are an asset to the community and this would be a devastating blow for residents.

“Libraries help improve literacy rates and their facilities give everyone free access to a computer. The responsibility lies with the Labour group and their financial incompetence.”

The council report that announced the closures, published in July, explained that the eight libraries remaining open – Ordnance Unity Centre, Edmonton Green, Ponders End, Fore Street, Millfield House, Palmers Green, Enfield Town and Ridge Avenue – represented 85% of total library visits across the borough in 2023/24.

While the eight closures would lead to a reduction of 281 hours of available library service hours per week, the report stated that the remaining libraries would be opened for 56 hours longer.

At last month’s hastily-arranged overview and scrutiny committee meeting, which voted on the call-in request submitted by opposition councillors, Chinelo Anyanwu, Labour’s cabinet member for environment, culture, and public spaces, defended the move.

Cllr Anyanwu said: “The proposed closures of eight libraries is informed by analysis on the use of the libraries, the needs of the community in different parts of the borough, the accessibility of [each] library building, feedback from the first phase of engagement from stakeholders, and the operation and maintenance cost of each library building.”

But call-in lead Edward Smith quoted from the Enfield Poverty and Inequality Report published by the council in October 2022. “One of the statements was ‘maximise the use of libraries, mitigate overcrowding and enhance learning’,” said Cllr Smith. “Another was ‘further promote and develop libraries as a key resource for children and young people’.

“It’s a pity the administration has forgotten its earlier promises in regards to the library service, which now faces being reduced significantly.”

Councillors were told at the meeting that residents would be able to use libraries in other boroughs, including Waltham Forest and Haringey, if their local Enfield branch was one of those closing. There is also a home delivery service option where books and other various library materials can be sent to residents’ homes.

Lucy Nasby, the council’s policy and performance manager, wrote in her report: “From the consultation, we want to understand how the [closure] proposals will impact respondents and their suggestions on how we can mitigate this impact and establish whether stakeholders have any alternative suggestions which make the same level of savings for the library service.”

Take part in the council’s libraries consultation:
Visit https://www.enfield.gov.uk/consultations/library-consultation

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