NEW HOME FOR CITY COUNCIL

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Derby City Council is set to unveil a £33m plan to "rebuild" its aging Council House. Under the proposals, the building would have its insides stripped out, leaving only the facade and an extra storey would be built along with an atrium and a new council chamber. The changes are designed to allow staff to work more flexibly and efficiently, and will see the building's capacity rise from 500 to 1900 people.

Councillor Mike Carr said the architects had envisaged a virtual "rebuilding" of the council's headquarters. He said, "It will be stripped out, and a major overhaul, rebuilding is probably the best term, will commence. It will involve building inside the courtyard, a new atrium and open plan offices. Then after two years, all the staff will move back into exciting accommodation. We have always been expecting this, so we've squirreled away the money."

The building, which was completed at the start of World War II, is running up high maintenance costs and creating high levels of CO2 emissions because of its poor insulation. But energy efficiency is not the only reason for the changes. The council's chief executive, Adam Wilkinson, has said he wants to encourage some employees to work from home and stop using paper in order to increase the efficiency of staff. Earlier plans for a £20m renovation and a move to a new site appear to have been ruled out. The plans will be presented to city councillors with staff expected to vacate the building by the end of 2010. (Source: BBC News, Jun/10)

Structural work is needed to the Council House to stop it sinking. Large cracks have appeared in several walls of the building because of subsidence and structural engineers say it will have to be underpinned soon to stop it subsiding further. The problem is believed to be caused by the River Derwent washing away some of the building's foundations. Engineers have monitored the building for several years but the severity of the subsidence has only just come to light.

It is hoped the cost of putting the problem right will be contained within £5m set aside for refurbishing the building, however, this money will also have to pay for new windows, rewiring and cosmetic improvements over the next three years. Council leader Chris Williamson said, "The cracks in one corridor have grown to one or two inches in places. It is just anecdotal evidence and doesn't mean the floor has moved by that much but it is clear there is movement. It is a bit like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, we need to do something more permanent."

Chris Edwards, assistant director of property services at the council, said assessment work would have to be done within the next 12 months to find out the exact cause of the problem before a solution could be worked out. He said, "Until we get something into the floor and take some core samples to see what's there, we don't know how exactly we are going to tackle it. It is likely we will need some form of underpinning. We can't just leave it." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Jun/07)

Derby City Council could move out of its city centre premises and into purpose-built modern offices. The idea was put forward after it came to light that more than £6m worth of repairs needs to be carried out on the 1930s Council House, in Corporation Street. It would also slash the annual £100,000 maintenance budget for the building and ensure all council services are under one roof.

At the moment council employees are in several different offices, including the Council House, Middleton House in St Mary's Gate, Roman House, Celtic House and Saxon House in Friar Gate. The suggestion of a move comes after a draft report from property consultants Donaldsons. The report, unlikely to be made public until 2005, follows a review into the offices, commissioned by the previous Labour administration, to assess state of the buildings, establish accommodation needs and provide money-saving ideas.

Deputy council leader Philip Hickson has seen the report and said it "highlights the deficiencies in the current provision of council office accommodation". The idea of the council moving out of its current buildings is not a new one. In 2003 it was mooted it could move into the Riverlights scheme and Derby College also considered the Council House, which was built by architect Charles Aslin, for its new city centre campus.

Mr Hickson said, "It's costing us a fortune to maintain the current Council House and we could end up pouring millions into maintenance costs for the building for no return. We're coming to the stage where the council will need to reach some decisions on whether it can continue to pour money into the Council House, or have a purpose-built site, but we don't currently have any idea where that might be."

He said no decision on the building's future would be made until the report has been discussed in public. Chris Williamson, leader of the city's Labour group, said, "We need to see what the report suggests before we know what will happen. The important thing is that the council retains a presence in the city centre. The Council House is a landmark building and so if the council was to move out, it could be used for civic purposes. If the council was to move into a single building we would have to assess the economic impact of such a move."

£6m to repair the Council House? £100 000 per annum for maintenance? That's an awful lot of lightbulbs. What on earth does it need? Is it slipping into the Derwent? Is it riddled with dry rot? I'll tell you what, I'll pack up my job and do it for £5.75m. There you are, I've just saved us hard-pressed taxpayers £250 000 at a stroke. Have they had an offer for their prime riverside site?

Mind you, that would involve knocking down the Council House to make room for more bars, hotels and nightclubs. Still, so what, they've ripped the heart out of this once-fair city anyway with other ludicrous planning decisions from the Mayor's Parlour through the Cockpit car park to the Riverlights fiasco. Delusions of grandeur have obviously forced the attentions of our illustrious leaders on more urgent matters than the myriad or more dow-to-earth problems that need addressing.

You can guarantee though, that once some figures are produced for this magnificent new edifice, the estimated cost can be trebled to take into account the extra large mahogany desks, extra thick-pile carpets, hand-made wallpaper and a very large cheque to consultants. Oh, and don't forget the helicopter landing pad for the constant visits from property developers.

It sounds to me as though we are being set up for another round of profligacy by our spendthrift councillors, who would do well to take note that we vote for them to run our city efficiently and effectively for our benefit, not their own. Do like the rest of us lesser mortals and make do with what you have or, if you don't like your job or workplace, leave and get a real job. C Y Nical

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