Dorset Council to close £10m Dorchester offices

DORSET Council is expected to confirm today (17th) that it will be recommending the permanent closure of its headquarters in South Walks House, Dorchester.

The proposal will be explained in papers for the Places & Resources Scrutiny Committee on March 25th.

As previously reported the move was thought likely with a relocation for staff based at the building to County Hall. The council has already disposed of the Princes House building in the town centre and former district council offices at Furzehill, Wimborne and Norden, Blandford.

The Dorchester offices have been closed since the start of the lockdown and even with an easing of restrictions Dorset Council has said that it will continue to have many of its staff working from home, at least part-time.

It is thought the library and learning centre, attached to the west end of the building, will remain open.

Meetings which are open to councillors and the public are not expected to resume until at least May 8th when the current legislation expires, but many are predicting that online meetings are likely to continue until at least next year.

The South Walks building has been controversial in Dorchester since it was first conceived with campaigns to try and stop it being build and to prevent the breaching on the town’s historic walks to gain access to car parks to the rear.

At one point it was dubbed ‘Titanic’ by protestors who were dismayed that the then West Dorset District Council should consider spending almost £10million on the site.

The building was opened in 2014.

Alternative uses suggested for the building include conversion to a hotel or apartments.

Said Dorchester Liberal Democrat councillor, Andy Canning: “We said at the time that this building was a colossal waste of local taxpayers money.

“Everything we said about this project has come true. It cost millions at a time when key services were being cut. The old Council offices (in High West Street) were sold for less than half their expected value. We predicted it would not survive local government re-organisation and it hasn’t.”

“Now we’re stuck with a really ugly municipal building looming over a beautiful tree lined avenue.”

Much of County Hall dates to the 1930s, although there are more modern additions, with some parts having been revamped in the last five years.

Help in making the building more energy efficient will be asisted by the council’s recent award of £19million in Government grants to improve council energy-efficiency.