The Old Library in Stonehouse has been brought back to community use after hundreds sign a petition. 

The agreement will run for three years following its opening in January 2022 and the building will be used for a whole host of community activities such as Shorts Boxing Academy H Dance Collective Zumba Classes, Bingo nights and more. 

“In May I pledged to bring the 'Old Library' on Elm Rd in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire back to Community Use,” said councillor Nick Housden.

“I'm delighted to announce that we did it, and that Gloucestershire County Council have agreed the building be used by the community for the next three years.”

“This is a fantastic result for the people of Stonehouse, over 300 signed a petition with me back in September for this to happen.”

“After lots of hard work by our local MP Siobhan Baillie , officers at GCC & myself, an agreement has now been reached.”

Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie had this to say: 'I am thrilled with this outcome. Stonehouse has a wealth of fantastic community groups and the ‘Old Library’ will be a great venue to provide a new home for some of them. It has been a lot of work and I take my hat off to Cllr Housden, GCC and the community for bringing this to my attention so we could work together.’

If you have a group you would like to run from there you will be able to book when the management group is announced.

The building will now be updated to a suitable condition, with the aim to get the doors open by the end of Jan 2022!

The community will be able to use the building for the next three years up to Jan 2025.

Before work commences councillor Nick Housden will be working with officers at GCC to select a group to manage the building use.

They expect to have an announcement on this before Christmas.

“Thank you everyone who participated in this either at petition stage or elsewhere, this is proof that when communities come together we can make significant positive changes quickly.”