'Use compulsory purchase powers to buy our library' - Dudley residents pass motion at public meeting

A public meeting in Sedgley passed a motion urging Dudley Council and health trusts to pursue the option of making a compulsory purchase order for the building housing the village library and clinics.

A packed meeting at Sedgley Community Centre had been organised by Dudley Council to discuss concerns the village could lose both its health centre and library.

They are housed in the Ladies Walk Centre in Priory Lane which was built through a private finance initiative.

It opened in 2001, but the lease deal to Dudley Council and local health trusts is due to expire in March next year.

First Sedgley Scout Group leader David Baugh's motion - in favour of the compulsory purchase order and asking the council to take expert legal advice on the terms of the lease and how it could be renewed - was backed by a majority show of hands.

Mr Baugh said it would cost millions to relocate services to another building and there was no alternative location existing that would meet the requirements.

There is also a proposal that a community action group be formed to support efforts to keep the building in use as a library and to provide the health services needed in the north of the Dudley borough which has a large elderly population.

The council's director of housing and communities Kathy Jones, who chaired the meeting, said that the council had a commitment to preserve a library provision in Sedgley and was meeting with the health bodies on  a weekly basis to discuss how services could be co-located if a new lease could not be agreed. They would come back with formal options to a further public meeting.

Dudley MP Sonia Kumar has been attempting to talk to the owners - Norwich Union Public and Private Partnership - but they have not responded to two letters.

"I don't believe the services should be moved anywhere else. Sedgley has an older population and people need to use local services," she said.

She is urging local people to sign her petition (https://forms.office.com/e/5RBNQDxfFq?origin=lprLink) to save the library and health centre.

Helen Codd of Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said they were very keen to keep services in the area and were working to find a solution.

Sedgley ward councillor Shaun Keasey said he was "utterly frustrated" at the situation and said that if it was in the public interest the council could put a compulsory purchase order on the building.

"The threat of  a CPO might be more effective than a letter to the owners," he added.

He said he would drive to Norwich to stand outside the Norwich Union headquarters with a placard if necessary.

"I have been a Sedgley resident for 55 years and am not going to let the building go without a fight," he pledged.

Councillor Damian Corfield said Sedgley councillors were not "siting back on our laurels" and wanted to keep the building, but there had to be a back up plan if the costly lease was not renewed.

Councillor Ian Sandall said they were not prepared to see services leave Sedgley. He said the now empty Concord Market in Dudley Street could be utilised if the Ladies Walk Centre could not be retained.

"I have heard Sedgley called the forgotten part of the borough of Dudley. We will not let it be forgotten. We will have these services in Sedgley in some form," he stressed.

No date has been set for a follow up meeting, but the council aims to have it within four to five weeks.

It is hoped to hold it in All Saints Parish Church which would allow many more concerned people from the local community to attend.

In the interim the council will take legal advice over the terms of the lease which is said to be more  100 pages.

Speaking after the meeting, Miss Kumar added: “Sedgley’s message is loud and clear, this centre matters. 

“Following the community forum, I’m even more determined to make sure these valued services are not lost. Whether it’s access to healthcare, library resources, or a community space, the Ladies Walk Centre plays a vital role in people’s lives.”