A TROUBLED Wellington public library refurbishment project faces a new set-back which will further delay the work.

Nearly £1 million is to be spent renovating all three floors of the dilapidated building, in Fore Street.

Somerset County Council originally planned to relocate the library last November to the former over-60s club in North Street while the work was carried out.

The library would then have moved back to Fore Street before the end of 2023 after a 10-month building programme.

But the project was delayed by three months without explanation by the county and the relocation rescheduled for the end of January, with work starting next month.

Now, library users have been told of a further delay to the refurbishment because of an ‘ecology issue’ and the Fore Street premises will stay open as usual while it is investigated.

The council has to carry out bat surveys to decide if any mitigation measures were required, before work can start on the refurbishment.

It said the surveys could not be conducted until May – meaning the new library is unlikely to able to open until mid-to-late 2024, six months behind schedule.

All three floors of the Fore Street building are due be remodelled and upgraded at a cost of £900,000.

The project will give the library a minimum 20-year lifespan and provide work space for other public services which might want to use it.

The work will see a new and accessible front entrance to the library and better access throughout, including a lift and a new internal staircase for the first and second floors.

Accessible toilet and baby changing facilities and a meeting room will be fitted on the ground floor, and the council wants to ‘decarbonise’ as much of the building as it can.