Uncertainty over County Council's plans to build multi-million pound office in Hucknall

Uncertainty surrounds the future of plans by Nottinghamshire County Council to build three new office blocks including one in Hucknall.

This comes after the leader of the Council, Councillor Ben Bradley, refused to comment on their £28million building plans as part of their 'Investing in Nottinghamshire' project.

In July, the council announced that their plans which include three brand new office blocks in Hucknall, West Bridgford and Worksop would be 'reviewed.' This was in the light of the Council's 'hybrid working strategy' – which will lead to many thousands of council staff largely working from home. The Council have so far failed to say what form this review will take or whether it will be independent. It is expected that the future of the plans will be announced at a meeting of the Council's Economic Development and Asset Management Committee in November.

Hucknall West Councillor Dave Shaw asked for details of the review at a meeting of the Council's powerful Policy Committee.

When pressed on the issue Councillor Bradley remained tight-lipped about the scheme which would include new £14.7million state of the art offices for council staff at Top Wighay Farm in Hucknall. Councillor Shaw, an Ashfield Independent councillor has long been a critic of the investment.

Councillor Shaw said: "I've suggested that this money is invested in fixing broken roads and pavements in towns like Hucknall and across the Ashfield District. Nottinghamshire is the worst place in the whole country for potholes, yet this Council want to borrow £28million to build and spruce up council offices we patently don't need.

"After the opposition Independent councillors put pressure on the Conservatives in July – they agreed to a review but won't tell us about what form this will take and who is undertaking this. I hope they are not keeping their heads down and hope that our concerns fade away. They won't. £14.7million for Top Wighay Farm should be invested on our broken highways and not plush office blocks that we don't need."

If the scheme for the three new office blocks gets the go-ahead Nottinghamshire County Council intends to borrow the money through 'prudential borrowing' which would push the total debt of the Council past the half a billion pound mark.

Councillor Jason Zadrozny, also a member of the County's Policy Committee said: "£28million is an incredible amount of money and Councillor Shaw is absolutely correct to push to make sure we fully investigate whether it is really necessary. The Council has made a big fanfare of its hybrid working strategy. They have consulted staff and trade unions and it's clear that the way our council is operated will change forever. There will be less need for expensive offices as more and more staff work from home. This investment simply doesn't make any sense – the Conservatives seem to be ploughing on – pretending that COVID didn't happen."