A new Canberra community group is calling for a halt to the proposed $3.1 million redevelopment of Woden Library, questioning plans to replace recently refurbished library space with an Access Canberra service centre.

Friends of ACT Libraries (FRACTL) has launched a Legislative Assembly petition, sponsored by Greens MLA Andrew Braddock, demanding the ACT government pause the project until it undertakes community consultation and releases its business case and assessment of alternative options.

The government plans to relocate the existing 12-counter Access Canberra Woden service centre to the library’s upper floor, which underwent a $2.243 million refurbishment completed in December 2021.

That refurbishment, informed by community consultation in 2019, provided quiet study areas, meeting rooms and specialist facilities for recording music, podcasts and digital productions.

The government has now allocated about $3.1 million for further redevelopment, with construction scheduled for completion by June 2027.

FRACTL founding convenor Jay Piza says the community should have been consulted about whether library space should be repurposed, rather than simply how the new service centre should be designed.

“It’s not enough to ask us how we want our library changed after the decision to change it has already been made. The community deserves a say in whether valuable library space should be repurposed in the first place,” Piza says.

The government says existing community rooms will remain available and some study spaces may be relocated.

However, FRACTL wants detailed plans showing how the service counters, waiting areas, study spaces and recording facilities will coexist without reducing the library’s amenity.

The petition also follows the Legislative Assembly’s recent censure of City and Government Services Minister Tara Cheyne over reduced library opening hours.

FRACTL says it supports Access Canberra services but wants greater transparency about the redevelopment’s impact on existing library users before further commitments are made.

The petition can be signed at https://epetitions.parliament.act.gov.au/details/e-pet-096-26.

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