As highlighted by The Voice last week, the budget included the earmarking of £2.7million for the potential transformation of the council’s offices in Priory Road, Spalding, to enable a range of public services to rent space there. The idea is for the rental income to pay back the capital investment in time.
The council says the move will only go ahead if the business case stacks up.
One notable dissenter to the proposal was the council’s former portfolio holder for finance, Paul Przyszlak, who would prefer to see the town centre site sold.
He posted on our Facebook page: “When will South Holland District Council realise that two thirds of their “community” do not live in Spalding.
“This £2.7m should be added to the £2m allotted to their house building programme (income generating activity).
“The offices should be relocated to a site more accessible to the majority of their residents and away from the relatively inaccessible offices in the centre of Spalding.
“The current site and car park represent a prime Spalding centre asset and [should be] sold as such.”
District council leader Gary Porter said the suggestion was something the two of them had investigated many years ago, but a drop in value of the site prevented it going any further ahead.
He added: “The value of the site now doesn’t make that a viable option at this point in time but in three years’ time it could.
“I’m not wedded to [the idea of] refurbishing the building.
“This will be driven by commercial need, not comfort. It’s about can we get in a level of income that makes the expenditure worthwhile.”
Many people were surprised at the cost.
One Facebook user said: “£2.7m is a staggering amount of money to undertake internal alterations. In a climate of shrinking public sector employment is it really likely that the DWP or other public sector organisations will be in a position to sign-up to long term leases?”
Several people felt the money would be better spent at the tired Castle Sports Complex swimming pool.
One post read: “It’s funny how money can be found for this but not for updating our very poor sports and leisure facilities! I wonder what would benefit the community more?”
A council spokesman said: “We thank those who took the time to respond and send in their comments.
“The feedback covered a range of topics and these will be reported to full council on February 22 for members to consider.
“We wanted a formal method for residents to respond through to ensure that comments could be recorded appropriately.”
The closing point for feedback was last Sunday.
