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Blackdown House move successsful

Monday, 9 March 2020 09:49

By Daniel Clark, Local Democracy Reporting Service

East Devon District Council review relocation from Sidmouth.

The council’s cabinet were told that the move to modern offices has saved money, reduced the council’s environmental impact and been a positive change for its workforce.

Cllr Geoff Pook, Portfolio Holder for Asset Management, told the meeting that the move had been delivered on time, on budget, and was delivering the expected savings, something that very few public sector projects do, giving the examples of HS2 and Crossrail where budgets have ballooned and been delayed.

He added: “Financially, environmentally and operationally the council has made the right move.  We are now based in twin sites: in the heart of Exmouth, our biggest town by far, and in Honiton, a central point in the geography of East Devon.

“The first year of operation at the new offices has already given the council an annual saving of £192,000 compared to its previous Sidmouth headquarters. This saving and future savings will go back into running the council and delivering its services.

“By leaving its old Sidmouth offices the council has also avoided £1.94m of repair and maintenance costs, which would have been needed to keep the old building going and by making the move from its outdated offices, in the first year alone, East Devon has reduced its CO2 emissions by 80 per cent and cut its water, electricity and gas bills by 44 per cent overall.”

Cllr Kevin Blakey said that there was just one line in the report that told him all he needed to know, which said: “There is evidence that the proposed benefits have been realised.”

Cllr Paul Arnott, leader of the East Devon Alliance group, though said that while there was some positives of the relocation, there had been problems and issues.

He said: “Last week’s full council, for example, showed yet again the lack of proper thought concerning the chamber as a democratic space as well as the daily problem with miscalculation of parking facilities. There have been many other major issues from the start.”

Cllr Arnott also raised concerns over the financing of the move and the cost of constructing Blackdown and altering Exmouth. He said: “A concern to you would be if you invested your own capital in a new building, brought it to market the day after it was completed, only to discover you would be lucky to achieve a third of the capital cost. Such is the case with Blackdown.

“If we accept the £200,00o per annum savings figure, how many years will it take to recoup the loss? What is the value of the building against the cost of constructing it? What is the value of the land and is that included in the cost of the value?”

Deputy chief executive Richard Cohen said the value of the offices is £3.4m, but that he couldn’t give the value of the land right now.

He added: “We moved for operational reasons, not for expectation of a profit or breaking even. The £3.4m is less than construction costs but that is normal, and nobody was interested in the Knowle as it was so the value of it was of a zero value in effect.”

Mr Cohen added: “It was initially decided for the HQ to be in Sidmouth because the then leader decided in should be in his town. There was nothing like the business case that we put towards the move.

“Staying at the Knowle was arguably a project that we could not continue with and to spend millions in repairs was nonsensical. Relocation made sense and we delivered relocation without the need for long term borrowing.”

Cllr Pook added: “You can compare the market value but the operational opportunity is what should be considering. We need somewhere effective for the staff to work and the value of the Sidmouth building could only be realised if we moved out, and if we moved out, we had to move into somewhere else.

“Can we not celebrate the project? It has been delivered on time, on budget, and is delivering the expected savings. Very few public sector projects do.”

Cllr Andrew Moulding, leader of the Conservative group, said that the project had been a success as otherwise the council would still be in the old building which was costing a fortune to maintain and in energy costs, and offices that were converted bathroom and kitchens which were not right for working in a modern way.

He asked Cllr Ben Ingham, leader of the council, who was a vocal opponent of the move what he thought about it now and whether or not it had been a success.

In response, Cllr Ingham said: “Whether the project should have gone ahead or not is a different matter and I am not prepared to debate it tonight. But without any doubt, they have delivered it successfully. Let’s accept the project was delivered as it should have been.”

Cllr Philip Skinner added that he ‘welcomed the warm words of support from the leader for an obvious win for the authority’.

He said: “The move we have made was an inevitably that showed great courage. Officers are happy with the move and they think it is a good thing. The move has been very successful and not been a burden to the council.”

But he added that there was an issue with the car parking requirements and that if you don’t get up early enough for a meeting, you can find there is nowhere to park, adding: “The car parking numbers is an issue and we may have to look to rectify it in time.”

The new Honiton HQ, which replaces The Knowle, cost the council £8.7m, while an additional £1.5m was spent on upgrading Exmouth town hall where one third of the council staff are to be based.

The Knowle has been sold to PegausLife for £9,019,605, and planning permission has been granted to convert the former council HQ into a 113-apartment assisted living community.

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