Cambridge Library is bursting at the seams but a vacant building may offer the community hub space the public have been calling for, writes Mary Anne Gill.
Space at Cambridge Library is at a premium. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
A solution for Cambridge Library’s space woes may lie in the very building Waipā District Council was gazumped from buying three years ago.
Cambridge News 17 July 2025
Ingham Motors acquired the site in 2022 with plans to develop a high-end car dealership.
However, due to current economic conditions, those plans are now on hold.
The News understands that a group outside the council is in discussions with dealer principal John Ingham about moving parts of the library’s operations temporarily into the vacant building.
The talks come as new figures show a surge in Cambridge Library’s usage for the year ended June 30. Book issues rose by 24,097 – nearly eight per cent – to 328,911.
Te Awamutu Library, twice the size of Cambridge, saw a 3.5% increase to 172,023.
Jo Davies-Colley
Visitor numbers also climbed: Cambridge was up 5.3% to 84,594, while Te Awamutu rose 3.3% to 86,829.
Cambridge Community Board chair Jo Davies-Colley said the growth was no surprise to her and reinforced the board’s three-year campaign for a larger facility.
“The library is busier than ever and making a real difference in our community.”
Due to overcrowding, books are now being stored on the floor.
Cambridge Library opened in 1998
The library, which opened in August 1998 and was designed to serve the community for 50 years, is no longer adequate for Cambridge’s growing population.
“The community board has strongly supported the need for a new library, or at the very least, alternative solutions that don’t require a huge investment,” said Davies-Colley who recently urged the council during Long Term Plan hearings to think of innovative solutions.
“It’s simply not acceptable for our most-used community service to be operating with books lined up on the floor. The library deserves better and I’d like to see council make the library a priority.”
The site of the Bunnings Cambridge outlet remains unoccupied.
Bunnings when it operated in Cambridge
Mayor Susan O’Regan said any discussions with Ingham about the high-profile site would have to consider the council’s financial situation.
“It’s no secret our debt headroom is a limiting factor in terms of anything we can do for the next five years.”
But that did not rule out the possibility of looking at other options.
“He’s welcome to come and have a chat.”
John Ingham
Ingham confirmed that while he had spent $37,000 securing building consents for the 2000-square-metre freehold section and two leasehold portions, development was paused.
“We were all ready to push the button and then we said the economy was not strong enough and the motor industry was not strong enough.”
Ingham Motors, which began in 1986 and now operates multiple dealerships across the upper North Island, also purchased Windsor Nissan in Cambridge last year.
Susan O’Regan
“We thought it (the economy) would have come right by now but there’s no decision as of today on what’s happening there (in Cambridge).”
Currently, the former Bunnings building is being used to store used cars. Ingham said he was open to community ideas.
“I’m open to discussions to talk to anybody about anything. I said right at the start if I don’t eventually build a car dealership on there, the first people I would go back to would be the council to see if they’re interested in their library.
“We’re community people, small town people, and we’ve got a presence in the town and we have to be seen doing what is right for the town,” he said.
O’Regan said the issues facing Ingham Motors were the same as Waipā District Council.
“We’re in a similar constrained financial environment. The one he’s operating in is the same one that we’re operating in.”
Cambridge Library
