Hucknall HQ: Work officially begins on Nottinghamshire Council's new flagship offices

The new office is designed to help bring long-term savings for the taxpayer and environment as part of a wider project to move more frontline council services into cost-effective, energy saving buildings.It also marks a key milestone for the wider development of the Top Wighay site, which is planned to be regenerated into a new community which will include 805 new homes.

The site is on council-owned land which has been earmarked for development for more than a decade.

The first phase of works for the new office includes site clearance and creating a safe access to site.

Construction work is due to start in the new year and due to be completed in early 2025.

As well as the council’s civic, democratic and leadership functions, it will be the new home to two key frontline service – the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH), for vulnerable children and adults, and the council’s customer service centre, which handles all public enquiries.

Meanwhile, council officers report that construction of a new section of road and roundabout within the site is expected to be completed by this summer.

The aim is to improve access to the new office and ultimately help traffic flow ahead of planned new housing for the site.

The new office is being designed, project and cost-managed by Arc Partnership and delivered through Arc’s construction partner, Morgan Sindall Construction, with opportunities for their own local supply chain as the development takes shape.

Coun Ben Bradley MP (Con), council leader, said: “This a key milestone and shows we are looking to the future.

"The decision-making function of this council will be based in the very heart of our county and will help to bring jobs, skills and investment into the wider Hucknall area.

"By reducing our number of offices by around a half, we're saving taxpayers millions and ensuring we can prioritise delivering services rather than just running expensive buildings.

"We've got a plan to make local services more sustainable for local people, for the long term."

Coun Keith Girling (Con), cabinet member for economic development and asset management, added: “This new, carbon-neutral office provides good value and is part of our wider plans to reduce the number of council offices as we modernise the way we work which will save taxpayers’ money in the long term.

“The new building will be built to standards which will rank the building within the top 10 per cent of new UK (non-domestic) buildings in terms of environmental sustainability.

"Earlier in the summer, the majority of councillors voted to eventually move out of County Hall and move the council’s civic, democratic and leadership functions into the new office.

"County Hall is too expensive to operate and maintain with a cost of more than £1.7m each year.

"It also requires essential maintenance costing more than £30m over the next 12 years, plus an additional £28m would be needed to bring the building up to modern environmental standards.

“And with the rise of home working, it is too large to meet the councils’ needs.”

More details about the next stage for County Hall’s future options will be announced in the new year.