Look at the bigger picture
Big things are happening in Wandsworth.
The town centre is gearing up for some far-reaching changes with around £1bn of new investment now promised. A new residential district is already emerging around Hardwicks Way where hundreds of smart new apartments are bringing in a new breed of town centre dweller. More new homes are planned at the Young's site in a location which will also see new shops, cafes and restaurants. The proposals here are matched by similarly ambitious plans for the latest phase of the Southside shopping centre modernisation.
People give a town centre life – during the day and in the evenings. The influx of new residents will generate a demand for new facilities that all of us can use at all times of the day.
The council's refurbishment of the Court House building in Garratt Lane will create a modern town centre library which will attract up to 300,000 visitors year. This will quickly become the borough's best-used library. We know from other parts of the borough that the most successful libraries are sited in busy town centres where they are easily accessible to large numbers of people. The community benefits are significant with many young families living on nearby estates now able to look forward to having a major library on their doorstep. It's great too for older children who will have a quiet space to study.
The new Wandsworth museum, which used to attract around 30,000 visitors annually, is leaving the Court House for a new home alongside the De Morgan collection at the former West Hill library where it will continue to add to the town centre's vitality.
At the same time the first of a series of local heritage displays with a village theme reflecting the history of the local area and its different communities has been unveiled at Balham library. Other libraries will follow with their own displays including Putney, Battersea, Southfields and - once their refurbishment is complete - Tooting and Wandsworth.
Amid all the controversy surrounding the museum move, it has been easy to lose sight of the huge breakthrough this new independently-run venture represents. With people like Museum of London director Jack Lohman and former BBC chairman Gavyn Davies involved – and the backing of the international arts benefactors Michael and Dorothy Hintze - you can be sure this will be a very different kind of museum.
It is fitting that Wandsworth, with its reputation for challenging the old public sector way of doing things, should be the launch-pad for this new type of privately-led provision.
Public money for arts and museums has never been tighter. More than £200m of lottery money has been lost to the Olympics while museums across the country have said they need more than £100m a year extra from the Government just to survive. We are fortunate in Wandsworth. We will have a brand new library that will create new learning opportunities for the whole community and a highly distinctive museum, established on a secure financial footing, which will reach out to many new audiences.
Both ventures are starting out at an exciting time. With fresh thinking comes a willingness to innovate and the chance to develop new cultural patterns for a fast-changing town centre community.
Edward Lister
Leader of Wandsworth Council