Bromley Council: Shortlands Library shut for months if not years as two front trees cause subsidence, cracked asbestos walls and a sinkhole. Where the library is now.

Shortlands Library will stay shut for “many months if not years”. That is Bromley Council’s own conclusion, published in an August 2026 update on the library’s page, after surveys of the building at 110 Shortlands Road found that the two large trees at the front are causing subsidence. The movement is cracking the walls, including in places where asbestos is present, and has opened a sinkhole in the floor.

The council’s plan is to strip the building of its books and equipment, improve the temporary library that has been running inside St Mary’s Church since the winter, and then look at every long-term option, including whether the library should be somewhere else in Shortlands altogether.

What the surveys found

The library was closed on 21 January 2026 after new cracks appeared in a rear wall. At the time the council said there had been “evidence of some small movement in the building for some time”, but that the building had been considered safe until the new cracks appeared, and that survey work would inform the next steps.

Those surveys are now complete, and the council’s update sets out three findings:

  • Subsidence, caused by trees. The two large trees at the front of the building are causing the ground under it to move.
  • Cracked walls where asbestos is present. The movement is cracking walls, and some of those walls contain asbestos, which turns a repair job into a controlled-materials job.
  • A sinkhole in the floor.

The problem cannot be fixed quickly because the trees themselves cannot be removed quickly. The council says they are so large that they must be taken down in stages to avoid damaging neighbouring properties, and only outside the bird-nesting season, so felling could not begin until this autumn. Repairs and refurbishment can only start once the trees are fully gone. Hence the council’s own phrase for how long the building will be out of use: many months, if not years.

Timeline of the Shortlands Library closure: 21 January 2026 closed after new cracks in a rear wall; August 2026 surveys complete, trees causing subsidence, cracked walls with asbestos, sinkhole in floor; autumn 2026 at the earliest, staged felling of the two front trees begins; after felling, repair and refurbishment can start; building unavailable for many months if not years
Graphic by Bromley Online, from Bromley Council's January 2026 statement and August 2026 update.

What the council will do next

The update lists four steps, in this order:

  1. Decant the building. An air test will be carried out first. If no asbestos particles are found, the book stock, equipment and other materials will be removed so they can be kept and reused.
  2. Improve the temporary library at St Mary’s Church. The council says it will work with the church to create a better temporary library space there for the short term.
  3. Consider all long-term options, explicitly including other potential locations in Shortlands for a library.
  4. Publish a further update on next steps once that options appraisal is complete. No date is given for it.

The update does not say whether the building will be repaired or replaced, does not put a cost on any of the work, and does not name the species or age of the trees. We have not invented any of those details; when the council publishes them, we will report them.

Where the library is now

The temporary Shortlands library service runs from St Mary’s Church, and the council’s service page gives its hours as Monday 9.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 5.30pm, and Saturday 9.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm. Books can be browsed on site, and reservations can be collected there through the online catalogue or by contacting the library. The regular sessions listed by the council are:

  • Mondays: Baby Bounce and Rhyme (ages 0 to 3) at 10am; Easy Peasy Colour and Stick for all ages at 10.45am; Tea and Topics, a drop-in social group for adults, at 2.15pm.
  • Saturdays: drop-in Lego for children at 11am; drop-in craft for ages four and up at 2.30pm.

The Summer Reading Challenge is also being run from the church.

One thing has changed since January. When the library first closed, the council pointed users to Bromley Central Library, 1.2 miles away. Central Library has itself been closed since 30 June 2026 while the service moves to a new building at 145 High Street, with a reopening promised for later in 2026 and a pop-up service around the town centre in the meantime, including a pop-up library at The Glades from 15 September. So for Shortlands readers who want a full-size library today, the council’s own suggestions are Beckenham and West Wickham libraries, both within two miles.

What it means for you

  • If you use the Shortlands branch: the St Mary’s Church service is the library for the foreseeable future, and it is Mondays and Saturdays only. Any book you left unreturned or reserved is handled through the online catalogue as normal. Bromley’s other branches accept the same card.
  • If you live near Shortlands Road: the felling of two large trees, in stages, from this autumn is the visible next step, and the council has said the staged approach is specifically to protect nearby properties. Residents concerned about how the felling affects their own boundary or drainage should raise it with the council now rather than when the contractors arrive; the library page carries a sign-up for updates.
  • If you care about whether Shortlands keeps a library at all: the wording matters. The council has committed to considering “all the long-term options … including other potential locations in Shortlands for a library”, which keeps a Shortlands library on the table but does not promise this building. The decision point will be the options appraisal, and that is the paper to watch for.
  • If you own a home in the area: the case is a reminder of what mature trees close to a building can do over time. If you are buying or selling nearby, a survey that looks at tree proximity is worth the money; our Bromley house prices page covers the wider market.

We will follow the options appraisal when the council publishes it. Related council services: bin collection days, council tax bands and planning applications.

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