Council plans building buy amid Town Hall problems

North Yorkshire Council is in talks to buy the former Anglo American building on the outskirts of Scarborough.

Staff based in the borough's Town Hall would be able to transfer to the new Resolution House site in Eastfield or move to the existing Castle House building.

The authority said it intended to formally close its Town Hall offices due to problems with the 1960s section of the site.

Carl Les, leader of the authority, described the prospective purchase as a "very good opportunity".

The current town hall site on St Nicholas Street is made up of two main sections; the 1960s block and a redbrick Victorian site.

According to council papers, the more modern section has reached the "end of its useful life" and was vacated last year.

The site has more than 200 desk spaces for staff, but a study discovered that on some days only 14% of these were occupied.

The building also has running costs of just under £500,000 each year.

Despite the proposed move, the authority's chief executive said the council was "still very committed to having a presence in the centre of town".

Richard Flinton said: "The issues that we've got is that we've got the main heritage building, the old town hall, which absolutely needs to find a new purpose and to be invested in and then we've got a terrible 1960s extension to that which is causing all sorts of problems.

"The majority of it can't be accessed because of asbestos issues, the electrics have been condemned as well."

Resolution House was constructed in 2002 as the HQ of the Scarborough Building Society before being acquired by Anglo American, as part of the Woodsmith mine project.

Council documents said the firm had decided to sell the building as part of a "wider consolidation of its operations" around the mining scheme.

The council papers said the site could accomodate between 200 and 400 desks, dependant on configuration, and the authority had been approached by the firm about a sale.

The building was to be marketed for about £4.5m but Les said: "We are not paying anywhere near that."

The council said it estimated the cost of refurbishing the town hall site at between £15m and £19m.

"Not only are we buying a property for way less than the asking price, it's also one of these turnkey operations where we can take possession today and move in virtually tomorrow," added the Conservative council leader.

As part of the purchase, council staff based at Ryedale House in Malton would also be transferred to Resolution House.

"Staff working across there cover the wider Ryedale area and sometimes across into the east coast as well so that could work well with their working patterns," added Finton.

Although council staff would vacate the 1960s Town Hall site, Scarborough Town councillors and the borough's mayor would remain in the Victorian building.

"The town hall needs to remain the civic heart of Scarborough" said councillor Thomas Murray, who is currently mayor.

"The Grade II listed building, that's what is important to Scarborough. The 1960s building, that's full of asbestos, that can be redeveloped into something that's beneficial to Scarborough," the Reform UK representative added.

The future of the 1960s section of the building, including whether it could be sold or refurbished, has yet to be decided.

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