Edinburgh Council is set to send £15million to sustainably replace Blackhall Library, which has been closed following the discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC)
The popular community building was shut in 2023 and has remained closed.
At last week’s Council meeting, councillors hiked Council Tax by 8%, and they also agreed on the eyewatering budget to replace the library.
Council Leader Jane Meagher said: “Together we’ve been able to deliver a balanced budget and prioritise spend on the areas residents have told us they care about most, while staying true to the Council’s core commitments of tackling poverty and climate change and ‘getting the basics right’.
“We’ll be tackling Edinburgh’s housing and homelessness emergencies and investing in our communities, including money towards roads and a new Blackhall Library.
“For all that, we have had to make many difficult decisions to make substantial savings and I’m grateful to all Councillors for their input. We remain the lowest funded local authority in Scotland, and I will continue to call for fairer funding for Edinburgh.”
RAAC was discovered in many council buildings during the same period.
The dangerous material which experts say can collapse without warning has also been found in several other council buildings, with repairs set to cost millions.
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