Council agrees to close its own headquarters

Cheshire East Council is to close its headquarters, after councillors voted on proposals to shut the site.

The local authority is currently based in Westfields in Sandbach, and staff are to be relocated to sites in Crewe and Macclesfield under the plans.

The council’s registered address is to move to its site at Delamere House in Crewe, where refurbishment work is due to be completed.

Plans for the future of Westfields have not yet been decided.

Westfields opened in 2008 as the headquarters of the then-Congleton Borough Council, before it became part of Cheshire East when the authority was formed in 2009.

It is not yet known when the building will close as this would be dependent on its future use, members of Cheshire East Council’s corporate policy committee heard at a meeting.

In recommending the proposals, deputy leader Craig Browne said the council’s executive functions will move to Crewe.

“Personally, I prefer refurbishment so we keep control, and for any future regeneration - but that’s not the decision we’re being asked to make today,” he said.

In a report to councillors ahead of the meeting, a staff survey said 47% of all council staff who responded supported the closure of Westfields, while 35% opposed it.

However, more than 50% of staff based at Westfields who responded were opposed to its closure.

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