WORK to demolish Ian Clough Hall in Baildon - which has been deemed “surplus to requirements” - is expected to begin in the New Year.

The building in the centre of the village had until recently been home to Baildon Library and offices for Baildon Town Council.

But in 2019 Bradford Council, which owns the building, announced plans to move the library and offices and sell the site.

The authority said the 50-year-old building was becoming increasing expensive to run, and was no longer used as much as it was in its heyday.

An application to demolish the building has now been submitted by Bradford Council.

If approved, it says work is likely to start in early January and last until late March.

The Ian Clough Hall building was opened in 1971 and designated as a memorial to the Baildon mountaineer killed on Anapurna at the age of 33.

The library and office space will eventually be based at the former Baildon Club, next to the hall. Earlier this month a temporary library space opened in a former Martin’s newsagent on Northgate. It will operate until work on the new library location is completed – expected to be early next year.

At a meeting of the Council’s Executive in January members heard that the Ian Clough Hall site would be sold by the Council, although a pay and display car park next to the building would be retained.

Officers said it was likely that the site will be used for housing, with the Council pushing for a “high quality design” that will boost the regeneration of the town.

The application to demolish the hall says: “The building is uneconomic to run and now surplus to requirements. All the building’s uses have been transferred to over locations locally.”

Earlier this month when the Telegraph & Argus asked the Council what the plans for the site were once the library moved out, a spokesman said: “We are currently producing a development brief for the Ian Clough Hall site which will assist potential developers to assess the site for suitable uses and design constraints. “Once completed the site will be marketed for sale.”

A decision on whether the demolition can go ahead is expected to be made by planning officers next month.

Both Bradford Council and Baildon Town Council has said it would work on creating a new memorial to Ian Clough once the hall had been demolished.