Behind the scenes - building the Library of Things External Store

Fantastic news for our Library of Things (LoT) External Store Building team. We have hit a major milestone, securing planning permission for the new external storage facility! Epsom and Ewell Borough Council gave the official nod for the new store on March 4, 2026. The team, led by William Ward, Bronwen, and Robin, submitted the request late last year. The store will be used to house the community initiative's growing inventory of things for lending.

We have also secured an amazing £2,000 grant from Surrey County Council (SCC) to make the store sustainable, focusing on a fabulous living (green) roof! We are now very excited and are prioritising research into the best design and construction to bring this green vision to life. Working closely with John, the builder, we have been busy calculating structural loads and sourcing materials, thus ensuring we use that grant funding before the March 31st deadline.

In another win for efficiency, the team also got confirmation from Epsom and Ewell Borough Council (EEBC) Building Control that it is exempt from formal Building Control involvement. This is because the store's footprint is just under 25 square metres and situated more than 1 metre from any boundary, which is great news as it streamlines the entire process and keeps costs down.

With planning permission secured the team is entering the exciting next phase of building. We have purchased over £2,000 worth of timber with grant money, and the next step is to finalise the groundwork.

If you would like to help us build the store we are looking for volunteers to join our team to help dig the footings, under John's supervision, during the week commencing May 11th.