MCC's cabinet says ‘let's move to Usk'

Monmouthshire councillors decided at a meeting of cabinet yesterday (05.02.09) to relocate the council's headquarters to Coleg Gwent's College's Usk Campus.

A new purpose-built headquarters on the Usk Campus site will see 450 MCC employees share facilities with 100 Coleg Gwent employees.

Monmouthshire councillors felt the site was the best option and is in keeping with previously agreed criteria for a new site: it is in Monmouthshire; it caters for where the majority of MCC employees live - on the Newport to Abergavenny corridor; and it is on a brownfield site - land which has already been designated for building on.

Councillor Jim Higginson said:

"Time is running out. County Hall is falling down. I am a member of the accommodation project board and the board spent a lot of time arriving at a preferred site, using the agreed criteria."

Councillor Brian Strong, local member for Usk said:

"I am delighted with this proposal.  It ticks all the boxes for me and I would be pleased if it went ahead."

Councillor Peter Fox, Leader of Monmouthshire County Council, said:

"This is a forward thinking scheme. Monmouthshire will have a new headquarters, based in Monmouthshire with a Monmouthshire identity.

"We are delighted that we are able to work in partnership with Coleg Gwent. 

"We hope that having our staff working in Usk will stimulate the economy of the town and will be a more central location for Monmouthshire residents to travel to.

"It will help us both to reduce costs and, from our point of view, it will be a much cheaper solution than to pay for the essential structural repairs to the existing County Hall.  This scheme allows both parties to use our money more efficiently, and ensures that sustainable principles are adopted throughout the life of this building."

MCC's Corporate Director, Steve Greenslade said:

 "Things are moving very quickly and we can only give a very rough estimate of the cost of building a new headquarters as we cannot know exact costs unless it goes to tender.  At the moment we think that cost would be around £18 million for the Council's needs. 

"We fully understand that the need to build new office headquarters will not be seen as a priority to a large majority of our residents. The bill for repairing the existing MCC headquarters would be over 30m and even then would be a very inefficient and costly building to run.  The new combined headquarters with Coleg Gwent would represent a cost effective solution within the county, incorporating many energy efficient measures, helping to reduce our carbon footprint."

The new building will accommodate just 50% of the current numbers working from County Hall. MCC plans to reduce the amount of floor space needed for staff by introducing agile working. This allows staff to work from a variety of places all over the county bringing service delivery closer to Monmouthshire residents and lowering operating costs associated with larger offices.

The new building will also include new sports facilities which can be shared by the local community.

Principal of Coleg Gwent, Howard Burton, said:

"This is good news for both Coleg Gwent and the Council.  The proposed plans will enable the College to build a new campus with fit-for-purpose resources to benefit staff and students.  The plans will also enable us to further progress phase one of the estates strategy, which aims to provide the College with facilities that fully meet the expectations and needs for academic and vocational training."

The proposed development is subject to planning permission consent and approval from the Welsh Assembly Government.