Relocating St Thomas Library

Devon County Council would like to hear from residents, the community, church groups, landlords and property owners in the St Thomas area regarding the re-location of the St Thomas Library.

Devon County Council has said that it will be relocating its library service in St Thomas, but has given a commitment that the service will remain in the local community.

The council was surprised when the landlord of the current library building applied for planning permission to turn the property into accommodation earlier this year, stating that they’d hoped to be able to renew their lease when it expires in November.

The planning application was subsequently withdrawn, but conversations since have led to an offer from the landlord to renew the library’s lease at a considerably higher rent and that would tie the council in for much longer period.

The council says that reluctantly it simply can’t afford to agree to those terms, and has decided that it will not renew the lease when it expires in November.

Instead, the council and Libraries Unlimited, which run libraries in Devon on the council’s behalf, are looking for new premises in St Thomas.

If you are interested in helping to provide a library service in St Thomas, whether a temporary pop-up in the short term or a longer-term solution, please fill in the engagement form.

Please submit your ideas by the 17th of October. Due to the tight deadline for finding St Thomas a new home, we will process ideas as they come in and evaluate them throughout the engagement period.

If you have any questions please contact communitiesconsultation@devon.gov.uk