Work on Nottinghamshire County Council’s new £18m offices near Linby is getting back on track after a wet start to the year slowed progress.
The building at Top Wighay will replace the ageing County Hall in West Bridgford by early 2025, potentially saving £1.5m each year in running costs.
Construction began in January, but was delayed by one of the wettest springs on record.
The building’s skeleton has now been put up, and the council is hoping it will officially be opened by March 2025.
Councillor Keith Girling (Con), the cabinet member for economic development and asset management, said he was pleased with the progress as he visited the site on Friday (May 24).
“It is going well. I am always trying to push things forward – perhaps unrealistically – but the end date is on schedule despite bad weather at the start of the year,” he said.
“County Hall is a beautiful old building, but it’s costing us £1.7m a year to run, and that’s £1.7m that can be put into services. The running cost here will be a lot less.
“All the decisions made will be made in the middle of the county, and social services will be delivered from here, with Mansfield, Ashfield and Hucknall just up the road.”
Luke Melville, assistant site manager, said: “It’s been challenging when there’s a lot of water on the ground and heavy machinery moving about.
“It should run smoother now work on the superstructure has started.”
Plans for the wider 86-acre site at Top Wighay include nearly 800 homes, a primary school, a shopping centre and 21 acres for businesses and offices.
The current County Hall costs £1.7m to maintain each year, in addition to £30m expected essential maintenance over the next 12 years and £28m to bring it up to modern environmental standards.
Cllr Girling said the public engagement over what to do with the building once the council had left produced “some really interesting decisions, from a women’s prison to rooms for the homeless to luxury hotels”.
The council will now speak to interested developers on their visions for the site.
The new council building is being designed, project and cost-managed by Arc Partnership, and delivered through their construction partner, Morgan Sindall Construction.
Not one labour councilor voted for this new office. Conservatives again spending our money on what they want to.
Have a look around and look at the state of our roads in Nottingham compared to other surrounding shires.
Absolute disgraceful.
The present COunty Hall may need refurbishment. All buildings do after they have been up for a while. But the present County Hall was built on a prime position next to the Trent for a reason; pride in the county with heritage features and memorials installed over the years and visible as a symbol of the County. It is accessible not just by car but easily for all Nottinghamshire residents by public transport. The new premises are being built in the middle of nowhere. Where is the ease of access? Where are the bus services? The houses won’t be finished for some years so I can’t see any improvement in public transport links until then. Is access by the public seen as a nuisance by the present controlling party?
Has a venture capitalist bank spotted a money making exercise if they can take over the site?
It’s a few minutes from m1 j27 & already has plenty of buses that run between Nottingham & mansfield directly past here, I’m sure they’ll add a stop at the site before it opens.