Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has joined calls for a new library to be built after plans to relocate services were shelved.
The Chingford and Woodford Green MP paid a visit to the Woodford Green Library on Snakes Lane West today to meet councillors and residents.
Vision Redbridge, which runs leisure services on behalf of Redbridge Council, had planned to close the library and relocate services to the Sir James Hawkey Hall.
But following opposition from residents and councillors, Cllr Wes Streeting, deputy council leader, confirmed the plans had been halted ahead of a wider review of leisure services in the borough.
Mr Duncan Smith said he feared the area would become a “desert” if the library was moved.
He said: “This is a thriving community. If you close this library down you’ve got a desert here.
“It will be filled with just charity shops.”
And the MP said he planned to write to the leader of the council Cllr Jas Athwal and chief executive Roger Hampson over the issue.
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