The building work needed to provide a One Stop Shop for the new Cornwall Council in the Bude Library from April 1 means that there will be some unavoidable closures at the library over the next few weeks.

Bude Library will be closed on January 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and 31 and February 6 and 7. Residents will of course still be able to renew their library books and access library services on line at http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/libraries">www.cornwall.gov.uk/libraries. Users can also return books to any branch library in Cornwall.

"We apologise to the people of Bude for this inconvenience but the refurbishment will improve local facilities and give local residents better access to a wide range of council services," said Mary Cooper from the One Cornwall Management Team.

Contractors working on behalf of Cornwall Council are carrying out alterations and refurbishments in the library to create a private room where residents can talk in confidence to council officers and councillors and also to create a joint reception area for the library and One Stop Shop.

In addition to the usual council information and advice available at the One Stop Shop from April, specialist benefit and welfare advisers from Cornwall Council will also be available on certain days at the Bude facility for people to drop in for personal consultations with no appointment necessary.

The new unitary council for Cornwall starts on April 1 when Cornwall County Council joins up with North Cornwall District Council and the other borough and district councils of Cornwall. This marks the beginning of a three to five year programme of change designed to deliver efficiencies across the board and give taxpayers good value for money.

To begin with, the majority of district council and county council staff will still be working where they are now and most services will continue to operate from their current base. So, for example the council tax and benefits advice service specialists in North Cornwall will still be based at Higher Trenant Road in Wadebridge and the planning service will remain at Barn Lane in Bodmin.

Over time there may be changes as Cornwall Council makes better use of office space and communications technology to enable it to streamline its property portfolio and use its resources to benefit the people of Cornwall.

The new council for Cornwall will have twenty-two One Stop Shops up and running by April 1, 2009.