Ambitious plans for new £8 million council office

Jul 1 2009 by Craig Robertson, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

NEW council offices look set to be created in the centre of Dumfries ... with an £8 million price tag.

They will serve as a base for the social work department in a bid to address failings in their current set of run-down offices in the Dumfriesshire area.

Councillors have agreed that the hub should be built between Buccleuch Street and George Street. But cash for the project has still to be found.

Under the plans unveiled by project manager Allan Doyle at a committee yesterday afternoon, the social work super centre would:

accommodate 300 staff;

become the first port of call to all service users;

deliver state-of-the-art office space and;

provide an underground car park.

The plans have been in the pipeline since last January and were launched on the back of a damming verdict of the current crop of offices by the Social Work Inspection Agency in September 2006.

A new hub in Dumfries would be fronted onto Buccleuch Street, where the former district court is, and backing onto George Street.

Much of the construction would be new build and the rear would pretty much engulf the public car park on George Street.

According to Mr Doyle, the parking issue should prompt a long-running council plan to build a new commuter car park on the outskirts of Dumfries on the riverside at Maryholm.

He said: “Provision for the displaced existing public parking combined with the new social work service delivery centre requirements is a significant element in the overall development.”

He said the plans have “resulted in the need for an off-site facility proposed at Maryholm”.

If the plans can find the cash, council officials hope design work can begin in October this year with work commencing on site in February 2011 with completion on June 2012.

According to a report, the current crop of social work buildings in Dumfries, Moffat and Lockerbie, which the new building would replace, need £490,000 worth of investment.

It is likely they would be sold with a combined market value of £425,000.

If the social work hub plans get underway, they would pave the way for significant developments in council offices in that area of Dumfries.

The council has already been approached by a developer who would like to use the council as an “anchor” for an office development which would consist of the former art college on George Street and the old swimming pool on the Greensands.

Those plans, which would see the council move its HQ from English Street to avoid a £1.2 million maintenance bill, are currently the subject of an internal study.