Stockport's council leader hailed a ‘new chapter’ for the borough's historic Central Library as chiefs signed off controversial plans to move the service to a £14m hub.
Proposals to relocate the service to a ‘learning and discovery centre’ at Merseyway shopping centre were unanimously approved at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday night.
Dubbed ‘Stockroom’, it will be five times larger than the library's current Grade II-listed home on the A6, allowing it to display 5,000 more books.
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The facility - bankrolled by the government’s Future High Street Fund - will also boast a performance area, sensory room and cafe.
Figures show that visitors to Central Library have fallen by around 40pc since 2013 - with bosses warning the trend could put its future in jeopardy.
But the decision comes despite intense pressure to ditch the plans from opposition groups and campaigners - including a 7,500-signature petition and three scrutiny committee motions.
A public consultation also produced ‘mixed’ results, with more respondents indicating they were against the move than for it.
But council leader Wilson told cabinet members it was time for ‘a new chapter’.
Speaking at the town hall, she offered assurances that the current building was safe and would be protected as one of Stockport’s ‘architectural gems’.
But she added: “We have to turn that page. We have to meet the needs of the people of our town.
“This isn’t just about a building, it’s about people - it’s about the services a library provides.
“And I will not sit back and watch our library become a forgotten asset - an unreturned book pushed back at the back of our town centre.”
She continued: “It would be wrong to limit the amount of young families from being able to learn together.
“To limit those with disabilities form playing an active part in our community, to limit the amount of adults achieving support with reading and learning difficulties,
“And that’s what sticking with the status quo would do.”
Earlier in the meeting Deborah Hind, of Stockport United Against Austerity, told councillors that moving the library would be ‘a travesty and show complete disdain for the democratically expressed opinions of the people of Stockport’.
Her remarks were disputed both by Coun Wilson and deputy leader Coun Tom McGee.
More than 2,000 people took part in the consultation - but Coun McGee suggested this paled in comparison to the borough’s adult population of around 230,000.
“The people haven’t spoken, in fact they’ve hardly whimpered if you take that view,” he said.
“Moving - not closing - Central Library would allow for a much bigger, more accessible , more inclusive library and learning centre. And that’s whether people are disabled, using the bus network, walking from nearby or even using the town centre car parks.
“That bigger footprint allows us to have a much better range of services, a bigger range of books, more up to date facilities - all those sort of things.
“It’s part of a progressive vision for the future for our town and for our residents.”
Council bosses have pledged that the current Central Library building will not be demolished or sold off for housing - and will remain open to the public.
Bosses preferred future use of the building is as a new home for the adult education centre, currently based on Hardman Street.
However other options include moving the coroners court from Mount Tabor and using the building as a doctors’ or dental surgery.
Stockport council’s cabinet met at the town hall on Tuesday night (December 7).
