Stoke Newington library works enter next chapter as council grants contract

Remedial work after masonry fell off Stoke Newington library. Photograph: Julia Gregory

Refurbishment works for one of Hackney’s historic libraries were given the green light this week, as the council approved a contractor to carry out the  revamp.

Church Street’s Grade II-listed Stoke Newington Library shut last March, after its partially collapsed roof and crumbling masonry had made it too dangerous for visitors.

This was mainly due to leaking water, leaving it in “such a poor state of repair that it was no longer safe”, according to Hackney’s culture chief Cllr Chris Kennedy.

Now, the £2.5m contract to revamp the 19th-century reading room has been granted – though the identity of the contract was kept secret by the Town Hall due to “commercial sensitivities”, under the Local Government Act 1972.

Works are expected to take a year, and according to the council’s most recent report, will begin in June.

But at the Town Hall’s corporate procurement and insourcing committee on Wednesday (30 April), Cllr Kennedy said it would be “remiss” not to check in with officers about the recent collapse of the building’s scaffolding, which he understood had been erected to help with asbestos removal.

At around 7.30am on 16 April, three-storey steel staging was toppled by high winds, crashing to the ground and onto a van parked beneath.

In the aftermath, Hackney Council said it would investigate the incident and confirmed no-one was injured – though witnesses said the vehicle’s driver had a “lucky escape”, as reported by the Hackney Gazette.

However, officer Katie Tomkins said the collapse “had nothing to do” with the asbestos removers, and was in fact put up to protect pedestrians from falling masonry.

She said discussions were already underway about how the council could “secure” its scaffolding for the construction work.

The staging’s designs are to be checked and reviewed by several authorities, she added, including architects, engineers, and a technical project manager.

“We will ensure there’s absolutely no risk of our scaffolds collapsing.”