Dorchester town centre debate: “Beware West Dorset’s white elephant”
An artist's impression of the proposed new West Dorset District Council offices in Dorchester town centre
I UNDERSTAND that West Dorset District Council are planning to move out of their long standing headquarters in Dorchester’s High West Street into a new multi-million pound office block which they propose to build elsewhere in the own.
The Conservative administration, and senior officers at Salisbury District Council, had the same idea a few years ago.
I was one of the district councillors who fought vigorously against the proposals.
Paul Sample
This, in brief, was the experience in Salisbury:
The costs soared from under £10,000,000 to over £20,000,000.
Salisbury District Council was abolished before the new building was even completed.
Its replacement, the new Unitary Wiltshire Council is about to conduct a review of the surplus property it owns because it has more office accommodation than it can use.
Right from the start, local people in South Wiltshire repeatedly expressed their anger about the proposal and the waste of public money on the office project.
In the May 2007 there was an election. The Conservatives lost power and I became Leader of Salisbury District Council. I discovered a financial and legal nightmare. I found it impossible to extricate the Council from the office building contract – signed only months before the election – without bankrupting the Council.
I do hope the residents of West Dorset can stop this ill-conceived project before they find that huge amounts of public money have been wasted on building a White Elephant.
Editor’s Note: Councillor Paul Sample JP is a Liberal Democrat and a former Leader Leader of Salisbury District Council, which was abolished to make way for a new Wiltshire Council in April 2009. Salisbury’s plans for new offices were controversial – see, for example, this link here. In the story just linked to, a project officer talks about centralised city centre offices being the only way to meet customers’ expectations and save money in the long term. West Dorset District Council is similarly adamant that “downsizing” to new offices in Charles Street will prove cost-effective. Click here to see a full expression of the council’s arguments.
West Dorset Liberal Democrats are holding a public meeting about West Dorset District Council’s proposed new offices on Monday, 19 April at Bridport Town Hall from 6:30-8pm.
2 Responses to “Dorchester town centre debate: “Beware West Dorset’s white elephant””
People who live in Dorchester will have an opportunity to express their views on the proposed new offices in an official Town Poll on 22 April.
Other people who live in West Dorset can have their say in an online poll at officespoll.org.uk
Although the meeting in Bridport on 19 April has been organised by Sue Farrant, (Lib Dem) the meeting is, like the one in Dorchester, NON POLITICAL. It is for the people of West Dorset to air their views with no politics involved.
Sue Farrant organised these meetings because no one else did.
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