10 Sep 2010

A report outlining the design of the new council Civic Offices that will kickstart the regeneration of the Southwater area of Telford centre will be considered by Telford & Wrekin Council's Cabinet.

The new offices will be built at no cost to the tax payers with the cost met by the sale of the Council’s current civic offices site to ASDA.

The report reveals the ‘concept design’ of the new Civic Offices and showcases the overall appearance and size of the new mixed use development of 8,000sqm of office accommodation and 500sqm of retail space.

The new building will help the Council reduce maintenance costs and remove significant maintenance liabilities of the existing building.  The new office will be much cheaper to run with lower energy costs including:

• Lower energy costs of around £105,000 pa
• Savings on repairs and maintenance costs of £3.1m over the next 10 years
• The Council will no longer need to spend £3.25 million on internal refurbishment of the existing 1970s building

Council Leader, Cllr Andrew Eade, said: “This is another exciting stage in the regeneration of the Southwater area, which at no cost to the local tax payer, will kickstart the wider regeneration of the Telford town centre to make this a living heart for Telford.

“The new build will be much more cost efficient to run, using environmental technology and with reduced maintenance costs.”

“Our goal is to ensure that the new Civic Offices bring together more services under one roof so that it is easier for residents to do business with the council.”

Approval was given in 2009 for a new Civic Offices building following the agreement to sell the existing Civic Offices site to ASDA, while earlier this summer the Council agreed to site the new civic offices next to the proposed new Southwater Lake.

The cabinet will consider the report on September 14 and any decision reached will form the basis of a reserved matter planning application due to be submitted on 22 September.