Local Conservatives have reacted with concern to the sale of Limehouse Library – and urged Tower Hamlets Council to make sure it is brought back into public use.
The library on Commercial Road, which served the local community from 1901 to 2003, was sold to a restaurant company for just £945,000 by Mayor Lutfur Rahman earlier this year.
But the Council obtained no guarantees the building would be brought back into public use – and there are now fears it could be turned into a restaurant after it was sold to a company which owns restaurants in Muswell Hill. Meanwhile, work is going on inside the building and on a recent weekend the police were seen questioning the workforce.
“Mayor Lutfur Rahman and his Cabinet have sold off Limehouse Library over the heads of the people who live here,” said Limehouse Conservative Councillor Craig Aston, “and now they can’t tell us whether it will be brought back as a public building.”
Cllr Aston continued, “With new owners, this beautiful building could be turned into new flats, or another restaurant or cafe. But this would be wholly inappropriate given its history. I am asking exactly what use is intended for Limehouse Library.”
“Limehouse Library is one of the ‘jewels in the crown’ of the East End. Local residents deserve to have this important resource brought back for what it was built for – a library for all the local community.”