Nottinghamshire County Council's leader says its West Bridgford headquarters will not simply be "flogged to the highest bidder" ahead of a final decision on its future due next month. The authority has been reviewing its whole estate as part of plans to save millions of pounds on buildings, with the number of county council buildings having already been cut down from 17 to nine.
The outcome of a review on the future of the council's remaining buildings found further efficiencies should be sought, with the cost to bring County Hall up to modern standards estimated at £50million. A final decision on the future of County Hall is expected by March, but there was recent criticism of speculation about what the building could be used for in future.
Council leader Ben Bradley and economic development chief Keith Girling are among those who have said that luxury flats, bars and restaurants could regenerate County Hall. Some opposition councillors said that such speculation was "inappropriate".
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But Councillor Bradley said ahead of the county council's budget meeting on February 9: "The decision timeline is likely to be at some point in March and there will be business cases that will come forward for scrutiny and other groups to have a look at. You don't start off looking at something like this if you haven't got an idea about something that you might want to look at.
"Having looked at the bills and that annual £5m figure for maintaining County Hall, which is only ever a quarter full in terms of staff, then it's obvious that's not sustainable. The process of looking at how we deal with that has been a genuine open process."
During the county council's budget meeting, independent Cllr Francis Purdue-Horan claimed: "The plan to sell this building to the highest bidder was always the worst kept secret in County Hall." Cllr Purdue-Horan also said the cost of building a new office on the Top Wighay development, where it has been said that some County Hall staff could vacate to, would be £18m.
Cllr Bradley said during the meeting that the £18m figure was "literally just made up". The Independent Alliance of opposition councillors at the county council had called for the new Top Wighay office plan to be scrapped.
But speaking more broadly about the future of County Hall, Cllr Bradley insisted that no decision had been taken yet. He told Nottinghamshire Live: "From a staff point of view, we've always been clear that we will have a base in West Bridgford and whatever happens we will maintain the fabric and heritage of that building. We won't just flog it off to the highest bidder."
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