BAILDON'S library will be moved into a former social club under plans to be discussed by Bradford Council in the new year.

There has been uncertainty about the library's future ever since the Council announced that Ian Clough Hall, the building that hosts the vital local service, would be sold on.

A new report published shortly before Christmas has revealed that the service is moving across the street to the former Baildon Club building.

The report also reveals more about the possible future of the Ian Clough Hall site.

Last year Bradford Council said the building, in the centre of the town "no longer meets current standards and needs to be permanently closed."

The plan was to sell the site and relocate the library.

Baildon Social Club shut last year at the start of the pandemic. A mix of uncertainty over when it could re-open and the fact that membership had plummeted from 1,000 to less than a hundred in the past 15 years, members voted to permanently close the club last year.

A report to the Council's Executive, which meets on January 4, reveals that the club house has been identified as the most suitable building to move the town library to.

The Council will purchase the club building - although details of the costs remain confidential, and will be discussed in a private session during the meeting.

Work to convert the club into a new library will cost around £475,000, and the facility is expected to be complete and open to the public in early 2023.

Baildon Town Council is also expected to move the office space it has in Ian Clough Hall along with the new library.

While this work takes place a new temporary library will be created at 2-4 Northgate, a former Martins Newsagent store.

The Executive will hear that this temporary facility, which will have "limited public browsing facility alongside an ‘order and collect’ service" will cost around £50,000 to set up.

The report into the proposals says the estimated cost of the work needed to bring Ian Clough Hall up to standard was around £1.1m.

It also reveals that the new library facility will include a reference to Ian Clough, the locally born mountain climber that Ian Clough Hall was named after.

On the future of the hall, the Executive will be told that the plan is to sell the top two tiers of the site, consisting of the plateau on which the Ian Clough Hall sits and the level of pay and display parking immediately below it.

The lower tier of car parking would remain in use as “pay & display” public car park.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Transport and Planning, said: “This proposal is great for Baildon as it will not only see us keep the library in the centre of Baildon but will also see a high quality redevelopment on the site of Ian Clough Hall, which will support the town centre economy. It is also important for us to feature Ian Clough in the redevelopment so that we can remember him and his achievements.”

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: “We have always been committed to retaining a library in Baildon and we know how important it is for the local community. It is one of our busiest libraries and this proposal will mean that we can provide an improved library facility along with an office for Baildon Town Council and it will still be in a central location for residents.”

A spokesperson for Baildon Town Council said: "Baildon Town Council is delighted to support this excellent proposal to replace Baildon Library and also our own office base, within this historic building in Baildon village Centre. We look forward to working closely with Bradford Council on both the details of this proposal, and also the plans as they take shape for the redeveloped site."

Referring to the report local Councillor Debbie Davies (Cons, Baildon) said: "I'm very supportive of finding a permanent home for the library in the centre to secure its future, but am concerned at the loss of parking - particularly when we have large events in the centre."