Irvine library looks set to move to Bridgegate House after plans to relocate Dreghorn’s were revised – with community centres to be gradually offloaded to groups of residents.

Councillors agreed to explore options to co-locate Irvine Library with another service in Bridgegate House following its three-year libraries, halls and community centres consultation.

The council now intends to market the current library building for a commercial lease to avoid an empty unit – with regeneration to be progressed through COVID recovery funding.

Bourtreehill Library is set to be handed to a community organisation, while Springside Library space will be used for another function and books to be delivered through click-and-collect instead.

Over the past three years, council bosses have carried out three different phases of consultation on the under threat public centres with the most recent phase carried out between March and May this year.

They now plan to move onto a “Community Hub model” which they say reflects the learning gained throughout the pandemic with new community lease/ownership proposals for individual centres.

While the majority of proposals attracted support or acceptance by the majority of respondents, in some cases residents hit back at the plans.

We reported last week that Dreghorn Library as well as those in Beith, Saltcoats and West Kilbride would no longer be relocated to nearby community centres, with the results of the consultation approved at a meeting of Full Council last week.

Council Leader Joe Cullinane said: “Halls, Libraries and Community Centres are the social fabric that bring communities together and I believe that is something that we all value and these facilities are going to be even more important as we come out the current pandemic.

“Officers sought to embed the Community Hub model which has proven so successful during the pandemic – bringing teams together into key locations to adopt a one-stop shop principle to service delivery, removing unnecessary bureaucracy, speeding up response times, and making our systems easier for citizens to navigate.

“The effectiveness of the Community Hub model is a key lesson for the Council coming out of the pandemic, one that we cannot ignore and simply return to the old way of working.

“It was clear from the feedback we received, that local communities did not want us to relocate West Kilbride, Beith, Saltcoats and Dreghorn libraries to nearby community centres, so these will be retained.

“We have demonstrated time and again, in deeds not just words, that when we ask citizens to participate in decision-making processes, we will listen, and we will act upon their wishes.”