District Council investigates moving headquarters as part of accommodation review
Fenland District Council is looking into the possibility of moving its headquarters in March as part of a review of office space that could bring long-term savings for the taxpayer.
The Council's Accommodation Review is assessing the authority's future accommodation needs in order to reduce costs and make savings, without any impact on services to residents and businesses.
Moving the Council's civic and democratic headquarters from Fenland Hall in March to nearby Hereward Hall was one of a number of future accommodation options presented in a confidential report to the Council's Cabinet on 30 September.
Hereward Hall is one of five offices currently owned by Cambridgeshire County Council that the authority is considering closing before August 2025.
The review has found that the 100-year-old Fenland Hall is no longer practical and too expensive to keep, as it costs £372,000 a year to operate and requires essential maintenance costing approximately £3million.
Fenland District Council's Cabinet has now agreed that their preferred option in the ongoing review is the acquisition of Hereward Hall.
The confirmation of a preferred option does not commit the Council to any course of action at this stage as a final decision is dependent on the following:
- The results of a Full Business Case.
- A formal decision by Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) that Hereward Hall is an asset they wish to dispose of (decision expected by CCC's Asset and Procurement Committee on 15 October).
- A separate formal decision by CCC to agree the sale of Hereward Hall.
The Full Business Case into the potential acquisition of Hereward Hall is now being developed and is expected to come before Full Council for consideration early next year.
Fenland District Council Leader, Cllr Chris Boden, said: "Our ongoing Accommodation Review has made it clear that 'doing nothing' regarding Fenland Hall is not an option. It is an old building which is becoming too expensive to maintain and would cost a lot of taxpayers' money to make it viable for the future, which we of course can't justify. We want to spend that money on public services, not on running office buildings.
"By moving to a more cost-effective building, we can better manage our resources and continue to deliver quality services for our community."
Keep up-to-date with Fenland District Council via Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn and our newsletter The Fenlander Newsletter.
October 2024
Share this page
