Independent Alliance at County Council says Top Wighay office should be scrapped to create £20.5m roads cash

Independent councillors at Nottinghamshire County Council say they would scrap the council's new Top Wighay office development if they were in charge of its finances.

The Independent Alliance opposition group will propose an alternative budget on Thursday (February 9) when the authority meets to approve financial papers for the next three years.

The group has met with finance bosses over the past month to pull together the plans and its documents have been signed off as "legal and balanced".

The plans include scrapping the controversial new £15.7m offices in favour of pumping cash into road repairs.

Responding to the plans, the council's leading Conservative group dismissed them as "gimmick proposals".

The Independent Alliance group says about £11.5m would be saved by dropping the new building, due to be built at Top Wighay Farm near Hucknall., but £4.2m would be lost to "abortive costs".

The savings would be moved into immediate highway works for the 2023/24 financial year to tackle an issue some councillors have said is the most frequent complaint from members of the public.

This would be coupled with a further £9m for roads already allocated across the following three financial years, which would be brought forward into 2023/24.

The group says the £20.5m total allocation for roads would then be split by each district and borough to deliver £2.928m of repairs in each area next year.

Other proposals include reductions in the communications and marketing team and scrapping all unfilled vacant job postings.

This would save £670,000, which would be moved into the highways team to create staff for extra road maintenance.

And the group is proposing keeping councillors' divisional funds at £5,000 rather than the Conservative Group's planned reduction to £3,000.

These funds are allocated per councillor for community projects in their area.

Scrapping the £2,000 reduction would cost £132,000, with this cash found through contingency cash and an increased number of homes paying council tax.

The proposed 4.84 per cent council tax increase put forward by the Conservatives would still be enforced under the Independents' plans.

Cllr Francis Purdue-Horan (Ind), who will propose the plans, said: "It's a legal budget and will be paid for by scrapping an office block we don't need and bringing forward spending.

"It will be fairly allocated and deals with the biggest problem residents get in touch with us about.

"Ask anybody what they think about the state of our roads and pavements and they'll tell you they're diabolical.

"This budget amendment shows we're listening and acting on residents' concerns."

Cllr Lee Waters (Ash Ind), who will second the plans, added: "We've told Conservatives time and time again we don't need new offices at Top Wighay.

"Since Covid, working habits have changed forever yet the council thinks it's a good idea to build new offices.

"For me, a balanced, legal budget which fixes our broken roads and pavements is a no-brainer."

Commenting on the Independents' budget plans, Cllr Richard Jackson (Con), cabinet member for finance, said it is full of "impractical gimmick proposals".

He says the authority's communications department does an "incredibly important job keeping the council in touch with the people we serve".

His planned reduction in divisional funds will "provide more support to our most vulnerable residents through other channels", he added.

He also described funnelling all money into highway spending as a "tired old gimmick" by the Independents which would "jeopardise the funding available" for major infrastructure projects.

And on the Top Wighay proposal, he said the new building will be energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, saving taxpayers £1.35m a year.

"Not so long ago, Ashfield Independents were complaining Nottinghamshire County Council was too remote from Ashfield and even walked to County Hall to make their point," he said.

"Yet now, they oppose our plans to build an important new Nottinghamshire County Council office on their doorstep."

He added: "[This] alternative budget … is just another small bundle of gestures and soundbites designed to get their picture in the papers.

"The budget proposed by the Conservatives is designed to provide sustainable, good-quality services for the next three years and beyond."

The Labour Group has confirmed it will not be putting forward alternative budget documents and will likely not support the Independents' plans.