Oadby & Wigston Borough Council (OWBC) has revealed plans to leave its council offices in a move that is expected to make significant savings in coming years.
Bushloe House, the borough council’s current home, is going on the market with the proceeds from the sale to be invested into renovating the visitor centre at Brocks Hill Country Park to include office use.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a re-assessment of the council’s office accommodation and its new agile working policies mean far less space is needed for its day to day operations.
It is expected that the move from the dated, expensive to heat, costly to maintain Bushloe House to the far more modern, eco-friendly Brocks Hill will allow savings to be made every year long into the future. Brocks Hill will be fit for purpose for up to 30 years and its use as its main offices will also significantly reduce the council’s carbon footprint.
The work for the Brocks Hill renovation is due to go out to tender in the coming weeks with the Bushloe House site going up for sale imminently. The Brocks Hill site is already owned by the borough council.
Councillor John Boyce, Leader of OWBC, said: “The pandemic has shown that our staff can deliver high quality services while working in an agile way, allowing us to re-assess our accommodation needs.
“It’s no secret the borough council is looking to make savings and generate income at the moment and downsizing our office space by adapting a more modern, fit for purpose building that we already own is an innovative and exciting plan.
“In the long term it will save large amounts of money year on year that can be better spent on our council services along with the added bonus of reducing our carbon footprint.
“It’s also great news for our staff who will get to work in a space that is fit for the future, allows for agility in ways of working, encourages collaboration among teams and has the added benefit of green space and a leisure centre right on the doorstep.”
Brocks Hill Country Park will continue to be available to the public as usual during and after the renovation. There are no plans to remove the public café and toilets on site, although they will not be available while the renovation work takes place.
No dates are yet set for the renovation work to start, but the council aims to have completed the move by the end of 2022.
