Riverside House Published: Tuesday, 18th March 2014

Plans to move from Riverside House are unveiled by Warwick District Council

The proposals would see council staff move into newly built offices adjacent to the Royal Spa Centre in Royal Leamington Spa. The Riverside House site will be sold for redevelopment to fund the new building.

The new offices will cost in the region of £7 million and will be significantly less costly to run than the current offices. Riverside House costs the council £670,000 per annum to run and the repairs bill is estimated to be £1 million over the next 5 years.

Following a series of initiatives such as, sharing services with partners and enabling staff to work from home, the current offices on Milverton Hill are too large for the council's purposes. 

Councillors are being asked to approve the provisional proposals to move at a meeting on 26th March. This will be subject to a final approval in February 2015 once more detailed plans and costs have been produced. If the proposals are given the go-ahead, building work will commence during 2015, with staff moving into the new building in late 2016.

The move will ensure council services are accessible in Leamington town centre with the Warwickshire Direct One Stop Shop being the first point of contact for customers.

The total scheme will be funded by the sale and development of the Riverside House site and Court Street car park. It is expected that the scheme will be cost neutral to the council. By building the most energy efficient building it can afford, which will be less than half the size of Riverside House, the council will be able to achieve operational savings of approximately £300,000 per annum. 

As a result of the redevelopment of the Riverside House site, over 50 affordable housing units will be created. They will be split between that site and the proposed development on the Court Street car park in Old Town. This will help to stimulate the regeneration of Old Town.

Councillor Andrew Mobbs, Leader of Warwick District Council said, "The move to new offices is a key project for the council over the next couple of years. We are committed to continuing to deliver high quality services and we need to provide the right working environment for our staff so that we can make full use of new technologies to help us do that. This move gives us those opportunities and is further evidence of our dedication to on-going reductions in the cost to the public of delivering our services."

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