Proposal to move Stroud Library to shopping centre approved

The new library will be part of the Five Valleys Shopping Centre

Plans to relocate a Gloucestershire library have been backed by county council chiefs.

Gloucestershire County Council has agreed to move it to the Five Valleys Shopping Centre in Stroud.

The council is expected to enter into a 25-year lease for the property within on the lower ground floor of the shopping centre in King Street.

More than 500 people took part in a survey asking for people's views on the proposal, with 70% in favour.

The library will moved from its current home in Lansdown.

Fire, community safety and libraries cabinet member Dave Norman said it was a very interesting and exciting time for library users in Stroud.

The council says the library will occupy a bigger space than at its current home

He told a cabinet meeting on that the new site would be more energy efficient and it was good to see the vast majority of respondents to a recent council survey are supportive of the move.

He also said the new site would have better access, reported the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"We are at the stage where we are proposing to relocate Stroud library into a new facility," he said.

He said the public library space will be larger than at its current site.