Nottinghamshire County Council has voted to move its civic and democratic base to a new building near Hucknall to bring long-term savings for the taxpayer and environment. The decision comes off the back of a review which has found that it is no longer practical to keep the building, which opened in 1946, as the Council’s main base in the long-term, as it will be too expensive to maintain and improve to meet the Council’s environmental ambitions. With the rise of home working, the building also is now too large for the Council’s needs. County Hall costs more than £1.7m to operate and maintain each year and requires essential maintenance costing more than £30m over the next 12 years, with up to a further £28m needed to bring the building up to modern environmental standards. The Council’s new low carbon, all-electric office near Hucknall, which has already had full planning permission, will be the new home of the council’s civic, democratic and leadership functions after being approved at yesterday’s Full Council meeting (13 July). Construction will start later this year and should be completed by winter 2024/25. The building is also earmarked to be the new home of two key council front line services, the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) for vulnerable children and adults, and the council’s customer service centre, which handles all public enquiries. Nottinghamshire County Council Leader, Councillor Ben Bradley, MP explains: “County Hall is an old building which is too expensive to operate and maintain and would cost tens of millions of taxpayers’ money to make it viable for the future, which we of course can’t justify. We want to spend that money on public services, not on running office buildings. “We are looking to the future. This move will help ensure that we have sustainable finances, and also mean that the decision-making function of this Council is based in the very heart of our county. That will help to bring jobs, skills and investment into the Hucknall area. “It’s still too early to comment on the future of County Hall, but we will be speaking to our staff and partners about all the options for the future. Being an iconic Nottinghamshire landmark with a riverside location along the Trent, makes it a very attractive site. But whatever happens, its heritage will be respected.” Nottinghamshire County Councillor Keith Girling, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Asset Management, said: “We have to make this decision and investment now to save taxpayers’ money in the long run. “Like other councils in the county and the region, we are faced with a decision to leave a building which has been synonymous with the Council for many decades but is no longer fit for purpose. “County Hall is often only around a third full, so it is not being used to its full potential, with many of our staff continuing to work productively from home which adheres to our hybrid model of working. “We have looked into all the options and none of our current buildings have the potential to host a public meeting space or facilities needed for our democratic and civic functions. “We already had plans for new, low carbon buildings near Hucknall for front-line services, so it makes sense to update the designs to also accommodate a wider civic function ahead of these offices being built. “We will continue to have a major base in West Bridgford as we have no plans to move out of Trent Bridge House.” Due to inflation, rising costs in the construction industry and additional design costs to potentially incorporate the civic and democratic function, the office building near Hucknall is now estimated to cost £18.3m. Councillor Keith Girling added: “This project is good value. We will save significant sums on running costs in the new building compared with County Hall, and, of course, by looking at future options for County Hall, we’ll save more than £50m in maintenance and refurbishment costs.” The new building will be all-electric and 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. Thanks to a low carbon design, high insulation levels and heat absorbing features, heating bills will be kept as low as possible. This design will also help keep the building cool in the warmer months, so no air-conditioning will be installed. Rooftop solar panels will also help generate electricity. These plans are part of a wider buildings’ programme which aims to save taxpayers’ money by creating more carbon-neutral council buildings, generating income by leasing older buildings with higher running-costs and co-locating with other public organisations. The new office is being designed and managed by Arc Partnership and delivered through Arc’s construction partner, Balfour Beatty.

Developer Charterpoint, in a joint venture with landowner, The Drummond Trust, has received planning permission to build a new local centre and a 66-bed care home at New Lubbesthorpe, a new community in Blaby, Leicestershire.

The mixed-use development features a two-storey local centre which will house a Sainsbury’s Local store and four additional units for retail, including a café/bistro on the ground floor. The first floor will be occupied by Forest House Medical Centre.

The scheme also includes a 66-bedroom luxury care home to be built over two and three storeys, which will be delivered by senior living specialist Charterpoint.

Now Blaby District Council has approved the detailed designs for the scheme – giving the green light for the development of both the care home and New Lubbesthorpe Local Centre, which is the first retail scheme for the new community.

The local centre and care home – designed by Franklin Ellis Architects – will complete the development of the Tay Road feature square that also includes New Lubbesthorpe Primary School.

Charterpoint MD Giles Nursey said: “We are delighted to have received planning permission for this scheme which will deliver New Lubbesthorpe’s first local centre and a state-of-the-art care home for the community.

“New Lubbesthorpe is an exciting, vibrant community set in a great countryside location just 20 minutes from Leicester city centre and ten minutes from Fosse Park Retail Centre. Our scheme, in conjunction with the Drummond Trust, will bring much-needed new local facilities to the development.”

New Lubbesthorpe will eventually feature more than 4,000 new homes.

Martin Ward, development agent for the Drummond Trust, said: “The Drummond Trust welcomes the granting of planning permission, the culmination of many years work by the Trust and our development partners Charterpoint, which will enable delivery of much-needed facilities for this growing and vibrant community.”

It is expected that work will begin on site later this year for the new local centre and the care home now that full planning permission has been granted.

Long Eaton-based More Than Loft Ladders has opened its first High Street premises to raise the profile of the specialist services it offers locally and to provide a base for its UK-wide franchise. More Than Loft Ladders in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire is now headed up by Kelly Hobbs whilst her husband, entrepreneur Liam Hobbs, is focusing on expanding the franchise network. Both are now based in the High Street, Long Eaton. Mr Hobbs said: “These are exciting times for More Than Loft Ladders both in this area and across the franchise network. “Kelly is committed to expanding the business serving Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire and the High Street premises will be a useful shop window for customers to see for themselves the quality of the work that we do and the advantages of opening up loft space both for extra room and storage in people’s homes. “The location in Long Eaton with easy motorway access will be ideal for our growing franchise network across the UK who we regularly welcome here for training and support sessions.” Kelly Hobbs continued that loft storage conversions was a growing market with homeowners keen to put wasted space at the top of their homes to good use either for storage or, for example, a hobby space. “We have built our reputation over the years by offering the full service and, as the name suggests – we are more than a loft ladder company. “Although this is obviously an important feature, we also install hatches, part or full loft boarding insultation, lighting and smoke alarms to transform dark and forgotten lofts into usable space. “It also makes financial sense to insulate a loft rather than see money on heating bills literally fly through the roof. “Furthermore, the volatile mortgage market also means that many people are more likely to expand the living space they have now at an affordable price rather than moving and taking on bigger payments.”