Work startsto createyouth centrein old library

A NEW development project is under way in the Horsforth area of Leeds to transform the town’s former library into a youth centre.

Horsforth councillors successfully campaigned to save the building for public use after it was replaced with a new library, four years ago, even though the cost of the new library was originally to be funded by the sale of the old building.

Now the youth service will move out of its current base at the Stanhope Drive Centre and be re-located to the ground floor of the old library building.

The upper floors will be the new home of the council’s West and North West Area management teams.

The project, which will create a large open space suitable for a wide range of community activities, is now under way and planned to be completed in June.

A grant of 30,000 was given to the 895,000 project from the North West Outer Area Committee’s well-being fund.

Liberal Democrat councillor Brian Cleasby said: “This is a great result for Horsforth. Not only is the old library building safe from the threat of private developers, but with this deal it will carry on serving the community.

“We would like to pay tribute to the youth service staff who have done a fantastic job at the Stanhope Drive Centre over the years. I’m sure everyone will appreciate the need to move to somewhere more suitable for the young people of Horsforth.

“This is the largest amount of money that has been given to any of the outer city wards this financial year.”

Fellow Lib Dem councillor Chris Townsley, chair of the North West Outer Area Committee, said: “Keeping this important building in the public’s hands has been a great victory for Horsforth.

“Community spaces should be easily accessible and with its immediate proximity to the new library, the Horsforth Mechanics Institute and the nearby health centre this development will create a real focus for our community in the centre of town.”