Councillors met last night to discuss a building programme that would see a new council chamber. They were presented with designs for the building, which would act as a meeting place for future council meetings.

Currently they meet in a conference room in offices on Gatehouse Road or at the Civic Centre, but this purpose built chamber would mean they have one central meeting point.
Cash for the project was set aside in the capital budget at a meeting in March this year.

Alan Sherwell, leader of the opposition Lib Dems, said: "I think it's the wrong time to be going ahead with it. Not just because £12million produces quarter of a million pounds of interest, but also because of the reasons of moving people out of the town centre and the effect it will have on trade there.

"It doesn't seem sensible and we have work going on with other councils in pathfinder which includes shared front offices. Where's that going to be?

"The obvious place to have it is 66 High Street, but that option would be cut off by this programme because it would sell it off in order to pay for the project. It's certainly the wrong strategy to commit to that before the pathfinder of shared services is agreed."

John Cartwright, leader of the council, said that he did not currently wish to add further to what was in a report to the cabinet committee for last night's meeting.

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