How to say “we’re closing Southchurch library” without saying “we’re closing Southchurch Library”. Total neglect should not be the driver of loss of local services.

Policy and Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee

Thursday, 4th December 2025 at 6:30pm 

Labour leader of Southend City Council intends to close Southchurch Library.

He said “It’s our intention to keep every library open, but you look at somewhere like Southchurch Library, the best thing to do with that would be to look to move it into the college because the building is beyond repair.

“So rather than lose the provision, you just move it to a different building close by which you can make better use of that space.

“And then that site can be used more productively for something else.

“So it is about co-locating within our existing estate and ensuring that we don’t lose service provision but we also maximise the spaces that we have.”

Have you ever seen the episode of “Only Fools and Horses” whereby Trigger explains how he’s had the same broom for 30 years despite it having multiple broom heads and handles?

Without the same intentional comedy, Mr Cowan basically said the same thing - us being Del Boy!

To him and Trigger’s logic (or political ducking and diving), Southchurch Library will be Southchurch Library even though the building will be demolished. Somehow, whatever books are left and transferred onto the shelves of the college, Southchurch Library lives on!

With a straight face and with an under the radar tone, he wants to close the library. This will make education difficult for those who cannot afford public travel or with disabilities. Furthermore, Thorpedene Library, which was closed a while back, is now just a derelict building with graffiti all over it.

I don’t know how he views us plebeians, but this is taking advantage of our good and trusting nature. We know he wants to “build, baby build” at every opportunity and it appears as though he has sniffed out another opportunity. Not quite the 10,000 houses he earmarked for Bournes Green Chase, but every little helps I guess.

A few years ago he was the library hero as he saved them from Tory closures. I never said it publicly at the time, but I was most impressed with his determination and resolve to find the money to keep them going, as they are community hubs. Yet, here we are today staring down the barrel of the first Southend City leader to close a library. Perhaps he might add this to his “civic pride” website.

Honesty

There is nothing wrong in having honest conversations about the provision of library services and concluding, for example, that Southchurch is no longer viable if that is the case.

I am not privy to the numbers so I am unable to provide a definitive answer as whether I would retain Southchurch Library, but I can say I would do everything possible to keep it. I would also question how the building has reached a position of being “beyond repair”. Total neglect should not be the driver of local services.

The reason there is a library in Southchurch is so Southchurch residents can physically access it with ease. The same goes for all the other libraries in Southend.

The only way I can stretch Mr Cowan’s perspective is by applying some eastern philosophy whereby there might be an existential argument for “what is Southchurch library”? Is it the roof? Or the books? Or the computers? And so on. In other words, what makes Southchurch library, Southchurch library?

In western terms though, demolishing it means it’s gone!