Wealden council moves into single office in Hailsham

A district council in Sussex is planning to sell off one of its sites in an effort to save money.

Wealden District Council says it is extending and refurbishing its Hailsham office to create a single site headquarters.

The authority says it will maintain a face-to-face service at its Crowborough office but plans to eventually dispose of the site.

The move, the council claims, will save more than £350,000 a year.

'Significant improvement'

Council leader Pam Doodes said: "This is an exciting step forward in our goal of ensuring Wealden is a streamlined organisation delivering essential customer-focused services for the future.

It will be at no extra cost to the tax payer and will enable resources to be focused on front line services Bob Standley, councillor

"We have long held that a move to a single site headquarters would mean a significant improvement in the cost of running the council as well as improving the way we work."

The plan is part of a wider money-saving programme adopted by the council which hopes to save £2.7m by 2012.

Finance and assets councillor Bob Standley said: "Thanks to the savings realised by our transformation programme we can meet all our office requirements through a major refurbishment of the current building with a small extension added.

"The work will be paid for through a mixture of corporate receipts and use of our reserves. It will be at no extra cost to the tax payer and will enable resources to be focused on front line services."

The move to Hailsham is expected to be complete by the end of 2012.