Council's HQ plans are approved

Wealden Council's cabinet has approved plans to extend its Hailsham offices and and ultimately dispose of its property at Crowborough.

The aim is to save money by creating a single site headquarters and the Hailsham move is expected to result in savings of more than £350,000.

A face-to-face reception is to be maintained at Crowborough and a new 'community facility' is to be built for the town on part of the council's site.

Crowborough Library, run by East Sussex County Council, will continue to occupy its Pine Grove premises but ultimately the council is planning to dispose of its property at Pine Grove.

The move to Hailsham is expected to be completed by the end of 2012, according to a press release. The council is also hoping to work with the Hailsham War memorial institute Trust and Hailsham Town Council to refurbish Hailsham Community Hall behind the council's Vicarage Lane offices.

This will enable it to be used for full council and other meetings and provide improved facilities for the people of Hailsham.

Wealden Council is working on a Transformation Programme designed to deliver savings of more than £2.7 million by 2012.

This will include reducing the number of office-based staff, 400 including part-timers, to 350. A number of posts are currently being held vacant and it is hoped that this, combined with ongoing staff turnover of some 10 per cent a year, will mean that compulsory redundancies can be avoided.

Provisions for flexible working allows for a ratio of staff to desks of 4:3 and so the council is planning 265 workspaces at its refitted Vicarage Lane offices in Hailsham.

(Added to site Friday, February 5th, 2010)