Lewisham Library re-opening delayed another year
Why has the council's troubled refurbishment project been repeatedly delayed?
Lewisham council has confirmed that the promised re-opening of Lewisham Library has been pushed back to autumn 2027, meaning that Lewisham’s biggest public library will be closed for a total of over four years.
At yesterday's (22 July) full council meeting, a public question asked for an update as to when the library will finally re-open.
The answer, provided by councillor Hau-Yu Tam, cabinet member for communities, sanctuary and healing, explains the significant delay: “Since taking office, we have been briefed on delays affecting the Lewisham Library renovation project.
"The completion of the renovation works has been delayed due to the need to rectify some unexpected issues with the secondary structure of the building, namely the brickworks that sits around the concrete core.”
Past promises
Last October, residents were informed that work on the library had finally started and the library would re-open in the late 2026.
The winter 2025 edition of council publication Lewisham Life proudly declared that “The library construction is due to complete in autumn 2026.”
On the 4 February 2026 the council published an update on the changes in Lewisham town centre, along with social media posts, announcing that the library would be opening in late 2026.
And on the 20 February 2026 the council went on to publish a facebook video, with Sakina Sheikh, then the Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities, Libraries and Sports stating that “we look forward to the library opening in the autumn of 2026.”
However, these promises were replacing much earlier promises.
The library “temporarily” closed to the public on 16 September 2023, and at the time the council declared that they expected it to re-open in early 2026.
However, within a year slippages were occurring in the expected opening date, with the council admitting in July 2024 that the plans for a rooftop bar had been scrapped, and the re-opening date had moved back to May 2026.
When were the latest "unexpected issues" known about?
Despite the answer to a public question providing an update, it is still not clear when the “unexpected issues” relating to the structure of the building were first known about.
Was this information about the state of the building known before this year’s council elections, held on 7 May?
Alternatively, if vital information about the state of the building only came to light more recently, why did it take seven or even eight months of construction work to reveal it?
Indeed, it is worth noting that even before refurbishment work started in October 2025 the library had already been closed for two years.
The council explained that this lengthy period of closure was due to a “series of intrusive surveys and investigations" needing to be undertaken "to understand the condition of the building’s fabric and structure, and to provide the technical information needed for planning permission” (answer in January 2026 by councillor Sakina Sheikh to a public question).
The lights for the fully refurbished Lewisham library will not be switched on for many more months, but that is no excuse for the public being kept in the dark as to why delay after delay have plagued this £8m refurbishment project.
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