Nine years after rejecting the prospect of moving into neighbouring Hereward Hall – owned by Cambridgeshire County Council – the Cabinet at Fenland District Council has agreed that’s probably the best option.
In 2015 councillors felt they couldn’t justify the purchase of the much newer (it was built in 2003) Hereward Hall which could also have left Fenland Council paying over a £1,000 a week in business rates for an empty Fenland Hall.
But with fewer employees (it now has a total workforce of around 300), unoccupied space at Fenland Hall in County Road, March, and a costly repairs bill if they stay put, the council is near to biting the bullet and decamping to next door.
Fenland Council promises such a move “could bring long-term savings for the taxpayer”.
Cambridgeshire County Council, with a much larger portfolio of offices, recently listed Hereward Hall as one of five they want to sell.
“The proposals are to close offices at Buttsgrove in Huntingdon, Speke House in St Ives, Hereward Hall in March, Noble House in Ely and Stanton House in Huntingdon,” said a county council spokesperson. “Buttsgrove is currently not occupied.”
They expect to achieve annual savings of £2m.
Hereward Hall can accommodate, as it stands, 128 employees but with many Fenland Council workers working remotely or not requiring an office desk, the switch is considered viable.
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.
“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,” said a Fenland Council spokesperson.
“Cabinet has now agreed that their preferred option in the ongoing review is the acquisition of Hereward Hall.”
Next stage is a full business case and confirmation – expected next week – that the county council will approve all five sales.
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:
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 cannot 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.”
In 2015 Fenland Council chief executive Paul Medd told Cabinet that the council had not been looking to move but with the county pulling out of Hereward Hall it made sense to consider a business case for all options.
He said at the time that Hereward Hall was built to accommodate 112 workers – fewer than the 191 then working at Fenland Hall but with overall numbers declining it was still possible to make the move.
It is possible Fenland Council could utilise their business centres for council meetings and civic receptions; it is unlikely they will build a council chamber onto Hereward Hall.
The future of Fenland Hall will be part of the mix – demolition was considered back in 2015 together with using the site for housing.
The final decision of nine years ago was to “remain at Fenland Hall with limited improvements and consider options for the most cost effective use of space”.
