Walton Society

Walton's Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB) and the Old Library Buildings       It is now over two years since Elmbridge Borough Council learned that it had failed to be awarded a £1million Heritage Lottery Grant to enable the old Walton Library buildings to be extended and refurbished so as to become the new home for Elmbridge Museum. This ended the plans for moving the Museum from its present home in Weybridge. Since then, we - with the support of the CAB - have been pushing the idea that the former Library, suitably updated, could become the permanent location for the Walton CAB. They have occupied, on a temporary basis, most of a wooden hut on the Elm Grove site for almost 30 years.

The hut is now widely regarded as inadequate. The space inside is cold in winter as a result of poor insulation, sound travels too easily through the partitions for confidential discussions to take place easily, there are problems with mice or rats, and lack of space stops any thought of expanding the scope of their operations. With little progress having been made in the last two years, we suggested in early January that the Council include in its Corporate Plan an objective of agreeing on a location for a permanent home for the CAB by mid 2010, with a view to relocation being achieved by the end of the year.

We also suggested that the premises might be able to accommodate other local charities that have expressed an interest in being co-located with the CAB. Sadly, the accountants in the Conservative group who seem to control what goes ahead and what does not, have vetoed this idea and simply agreed that the Council should "assist in identifying new premises for the CAB, without any mention of considering the option of the Old Walton Library or any timescales. Ever so politely, the idea has been kicked into the long grass. The CAB are likely to remain in their hut for many winters to come, whilst the old Library buildings, now empty for almost two years, are likely to stay empty for the foreseeable future, since no other suggestions for using these buildings have been forthcoming.  

Cllrs Chris Sadler and David Walsh