Decision need on fate of The Grange
COUNCIL bosses must decide the fate of Ely s old council offices in three years time or face giant repair bills of more than £1 million. The news came on Tuesday afternoon as councillors agreed to spend just over £250,000 on essential repairs and maintena
COUNCIL bosses must decide the fate of Ely's old council offices in three years time or face giant repair bills of more than £1 million.
The news came on Tuesday afternoon as councillors agreed to spend just over £250,000 on essential repairs and maintenance to The Grange until 2009.
They decided against calling in outside contractors, voting instead to keep the work mainly in-house, saving around £50,000.
The move means that most of the work will be carried out by the council's own caretakers with only specialised electrical and heating installations provided by outside workers.
Members of East Cambridgeshire District Council's policy and resources committee decided to review the situation again in December 2007 after being told there will be "significant financial implications" past 2009.
Essential work will be carried out to staff and members' accommodation, including decorating, new carpets and external maintenance totalling £258,430 over the next three years.
Most Read
- 1 Pedestrian struck on Ely Road in Littleport
- 2 Council bans use of agricultural land to extend garden
- 3 Mexican restaurant to open inside former Frankie & Benny's in Ely
- 4 Former Baptist chapel to be turned into four-bedroom house
- 5 Councillor hits out at 'huge intransigence' over splash pad project
- 6 Village road closing for five weeks for temporary barrier installation
- 7 ‘It’s been like this for 11 months’ - woman’s assisted refuse collection failure
- 8 Shoplifter, 33, who assaulted woman is on the run
- 9 Shoplifter barred from every M&S and Sainsbury's in Cambridgeshire
- 10 Soham tribute to 'honest, funny, intelligent and understanding human being'
The work will be paid for with a £70,000 a year commitment already in the council's coffers.
But after 2009 the Nutholt Lane building, constructed in Victorian times with later additions, would need a further £700,000 spent on it to update its air-conditioning systems and provide a new roof among other vital repairs.
