Trafford Council has taken the plunge and awarded a hugely costly contract to Shepherd Developments and borrowing £27m to finance the initiative. Labour Councillors oppose the plans as it fails to provide value for money at time of savage cuts to services.
Essentially the civic and mayoral parts of the building will be retained to the front but most of the rest including the Town Hall extension will be replaced with more spacious accommodation.
This will enable Trafford to dispose of some buildings such as Park House in Sale that it uses at present.
Picture courtesy of ian bramham.com not for reproduction without photographer's consent
Yet again Trafford's Tories have let themselves be guided by consultants and developers. Initially it was Peel suggesting moving the Town Hall to the Trafford Centre and letting them get a foot into the Tescos/LCCC deal. An outcry ensued, listed building status was obtained for the civic quarters and Peel withdrew. But Trafford were sold on the idea of bringing much of their 2007 operation under one roof.
Yes there are roof leaks and some structural faults that need attending to but Councillor Acton has seen the structural surveys and considers the maintenance costs submitted for the business case to be grossly inflated.
"If you want perfection from the current build it would cost a huge amount, but it's clear that what the Tories claim to be the 'do minimum' option is nothing of the sort and this is skewing the business case they're presenting. You wouldn't trust these people to buy new kitchen units, they'd end up being sold a new house to find room for the microwave."
Councillor Mike Cordingley
When it comes to services, Trafford will cut to the bone and then cut some more.
But when it's the corporate HQ, suddenly money's no problem and they're ready to borrow £27m to indulge in their grand designs.
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