What is happening to Bailiff Bridge Library: Shut Calderdale library could become two new semi-detached homes

Stephen Mungofa has applied to Calderdale Council seeking permission to convert Bailiff Bridge Library, at Devon Way, including a first floor extension and off-road parking.

The former Calderdale Council building was sold at auction in February last year, reaching £139,000, – around £40,000 over the guide price – when it went under the hammer at Pugh auctioneers.

The building was closed by Calderdale Council in January 2019 due to health and safety concerns, with alternatives including Hipperholme, Brighouse and Halifax’s Central Library being used by most customers, said the authority.

The council’s financial situation meant spending money on it was not an option, councillors heard at the time, with money raised from the sale to go into central funds.

The auction site described the building, which is about two miles north of Brighouse, as “a residential development opportunity".

There is an existing outline planning consent for demolishing the existing building to enable development there of two homes, said the prospectus.

Mr Mungofa has now come up with proposals he says will give what is now a dilapidated building a new future as two semi-detached three-bedroom family homes, retaining the existing structure while extending upwards and creating the off-road parking.

Agents Cadvis3d, in a supporting statement with the application – number 24/00224/FUL - says: “The proposals provide high quality, family homes to meet local needs, in a sustainable location that will contribute to the housing supply in the local area.”