Campaigners are fighting plans to turn a long-shuttered former library in north Liverpool into a bookmakers, insisting the need for library services in the area “hasn’t gone away.” A planning application has been lodged by Boylesports (UK) to open a new shop on The Mall on Breck Road, taking over the building once occupied by Breck Road Library, which has been closed to the public since a row over rent last October.
Since 2015, Breck Road and a location in Dovecot had been managed on behalf of Liverpool Council by Alt Valley Community Trust (AVCT). Last summer, the city council stopped providing funds for those services as the rent row continued. After an agreement couldn’t be reached, the council activated a break clause in its lease with the building’s owners and took possession of Breck Road Library. It has been closed ever since.
Campaigners rally outside the former library
Since the library shut, campaigners have used their weekends to set up outside the building – across from which you can see a Betfred site – lobbying for support to urge Liverpool Council to reopen the library. After a sudden downpour, Ruth Knox and Sue Ferguson from the Save Liverpool Libraries campaign set up their table outside with petitions calling for the planning application to be rejected.
Sat in front of a sign reading “Books Not Bookies,” Ruth said: “We’ve been here so long, people have got to know us.” Sue added: “This is an essential service. It was outsourced in 2014 and we went along with that because it was the best we could do. It’s down to the local authority to pick up and provide for the need. If it was social care, they would have. The need here hasn’t gone away. You have to make a fuss and we have.”
The planning application seeks to divide the building to set up a bookies while a second unit would be kept for potential community use. This would be the fourth bookmakers within a short distance of the former library. Planning documents submitted to the city council detailed how the smaller unit of the two would be offered to the market at a nominal or discounted rate by the applicant – including AVCT. It added: “If after 12 months of active marketing at a nominal and/or discounted rate an appropriate community focused end user cannot be found, the unit would be offered to the wider market.” Ruth described this as an “empty gesture.”
Community voices and political support
Among those stopping to offer their support were Kenny Collins, a former teacher at Cardinal Heenan. Kenny, who has lived near Breck Road since 1979, was passionate in his reasoning for backing the campaign. He said: “We need a library, we’re in one of the most deprived areas in the country, there’s nothing here for the kids. If you stop kids getting access to education, it becomes a ghetto and stays a ghetto. We’ve got an abundance of bookies and barbers, there’s not enough fruit and veg shops, butchers, there’s just quick cash businesses. It’s running the area down.”
Cllr Alan Gibbons, leader of the Liverpool Community Independents group, joined Ruth and Sue in corralling people to sign the petition. He said: “The thought of a bookies replacing a library, the place of books, on Breck Road is outrageous, but the key issue is not just rejecting the planning application. The bottom line is simple, this community needs a library. For 11 months we have supported the campaign to reopen Breck Road library and it will continue until that happens. Resident after resident told us how they took their kids to the branch and how it was at the heart of their education and development. Investment is coming into this neighbourhood. A top priority has to be a fully functioning library.”
Opposition has come from other city councillors including ward member Ellie Byrne and Portia Fahey who serves nearby Everton North. Kim Johnson MP has also made her feelings known, urging people to object to the plans online.
Residents react to the bookies plan
Kathy Roberts stopped to sign the petition while out shopping. She said: “It’s disgusting. Haven’t we got enough bookies? The library is a place people used to just go in for a warm and to talk to someone. I think they should all just be closed.” Kathy’s friend George Lopez added: “It needs to be something for the kids.”
Sania Ghazanfer took her own children to use the library before it closed. She said: “I would come here for the free sessions. It was always close to my house and it was a good support.” One passer-by who stopped to ask the LDRS about the application notice taped to the walls outside was particularly forthright about his views. He said: “Oh my god, another one?”
Founded in 1989 by John Boyle, Boylesports has grown to almost 400 shops in Ireland and the UK, offering telephone, mobile and online betting and gaming services in Ireland, the UK and a range of international markets. Within yards of the proposed new location are branches of William Hill and Coral next door to one another. A date has yet to be confirmed for the plans to go before Liverpool Council’s planning committee for a final decision.
