Woodstock is to get a new library and community hub on the Hensington Road site, empty since 2018. Both councils will co-chair a working group to speed it up.

Woodstock is to get a new library and community hub on the fenced-off Hensington Road site where its old library stood. Oxfordshire County Council and West Oxfordshire District Council announced the plan jointly on Monday. Woodstock is about eight miles north-east of Witney.

The town has had only a temporary library since December 2018, on the ground floor of the Oxfordshire Museum.

The announcement came in a joint release on 5 October. It gives no date, cost or design yet. What it does set out is who will drive the project and what comes first.

What the councils have agreed

The two councils say they will:

  • set up a working group of senior officers, co-chaired by the two council leaders
  • move “as quickly as possible” through feasibility, design, funding, planning and building
  • form a partnership of local stakeholders to inform and support the project
  • engage and consult the wider community on what the hub should include

The plan is for a library that can also bring other community services “under one roof”. Blenheim Palace owns the old police station next to the site, and the councils name it as a partner. The release does not say whether the police station land would form part of the scheme.

Why the site has sat empty

The original library on Hensington Road closed in December 2018. In a February 2019 release, the county council said problems with some of the walls had been found during routine inspections. Further surveys found the building was “damaged beyond economic repair”, and it was demolished.

Councillor Neil Fawcett, deputy leader of the county council, and Councillor Andy Graham, leader of the district council, said in their joint statement: “Since the library closed in 2018 due to structural issues, the cleared site has remained behind fencing for far too long.”

They added: “Woodstock residents have been incredibly patient during this period of uncertainty, and we will ensure they are central to the overall vision and delivery.”

They also said there is “significant work ahead and important challenges to overcome”.

Using the library now

Nothing changes yet. The temporary library stays on the ground floor of the Oxfordshire Museum, Fletcher’s House, Park Street, OX20 1SN. It is open when the museum is open:

Day Hours
Monday Closed
Tuesday to Friday 10am to 1pm, 2pm to 5pm
Saturday 10am to 12.30pm, 1pm to 4.30pm
Sunday 2pm to 5pm

Public computers are in the Learning Centre on the museum’s first floor. The museum itself has just won a national Sandford Award for heritage learning, as we reported last week.

What it means for you

If you live in Woodstock or the villages around it, the library you use has been a stopgap for almost eight years. The councils have now committed to a dedicated team and a public say on what replaces it. The release does not give a date for that consultation. We will report it when it opens.

If you have views on what a Woodstock community hub should hold, the stakeholder partnership is the route the councils have named. They have not yet said who will sit on it.

Sources