Bucks Council considers selling Aylesbury's infamous County Hall office tower in new money saving strategy

Bucks Council will consider selling one of its offices in Aylesbury as part of its new project to save money.

One of the proposals the council is putting forward would be to sell imposing monolithic county hall building building on Walton Street.

Alternative ideas could see the well-known building renovated, while it could also be redeveloped, the local authority has revealed.

The local authority announced yesterday evening (5 January), that it has approved a new Estates Strategy.

With more council staff working from home and the local authority adopting more flexible working agreements after the pandemic, the council is looking to sell buildings it no longer needs.

Officials will assess offices which the council inherited when it became a unitary authority in 2020.

Bucks Council hopes the proposals could save £2.4 million a year in revenue savings and capital receipts savings of £4 million.

Also, by streamlining operations the body’s carbon footprint will improve.

Some of the thinking behind the changes, is that it will allow Bucks Council to continue with its more flexible working arrangements after the pandemic, where more staff a working from home partially.

One outcome of the project is that it further establishes The Gateway office in Aylesbury as the main headquarters of the council.

Staff will move from the Old Library into the Queen Victoria Road offices in High Wycombe.

Work will begin on a masterplan to redevelop the council’s office in Amersham into housing.

The council’s lease on its office in Denham will be surrendered.

While a masterplan is being prepared for the Aylesbury offices on Walton Street, potential regeneration, development and a sale are among the options officials are weighing up.

Councillor John Chilver said: “Our new Estates Strategy will see us review all our buildings across Buckinghamshire as part of an overall aim to make sure we are making the best use of our office buildings, and to ultimately provide the best value for money for residents. This was always the case once we became a new council with an estate inherited from five legacy councils.

“Our Estates Strategy will also consider how working patterns have changed since the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, our innovative Work Smart strategy has enabled our organisation to maximise the benefits of flexible working, whilst ensuring that we meet the requirements of our residents and continue to drive improvements in productivity. Our desk-based teams in particular balance the benefits of working in the office and collaborating with colleagues in person, with the opportunity to work at home and reduce commuting.

“These arrangements have become critical to the council’s ability to attract and retain staff within a competitive labour market. Our experience of this model of working over the past two years has provided us with a good dataset about our need for office space, and we are now in a position to bring forward proposals to reduce the size of the estate and the operational running costs.”