Council considers move to out-of-town offices
BOSSES at Harborough District Council are considering moving from its historic former corset factory building to the new out-of-town Airfield Farm business park.
The council’s present headquarters in Adam and Eve Street was once home to the R & WH Symington corset factory and has been the base for the authority since the early 1980s.
But the building is costly to maintain and there has been talk of a move for many years.
At a meeting of the executive – effectively the council’s cabinet – on Monday, Conservative council leader Alistair Swatridge for the first time publicly suggested Airfield Farm, north of Harborough on the A6, as a new location.
Talks are at an early stage but speaking to the Mail yesterday, Cllr Swatridge said he would like to see a new state-of-the-art energy efficient building constructed at the business park with a customer service centre maintained in the town to deal with day-to-day queries.
A frequent bus service between the town centre and the offices, linking with the new hospital facilities at St Luke’s in Leicester Road, could also be developed as part of the move, added Cllr Swatridge.
It is not yet clear what will happen to Harborough Museum and the library if the offices are moved, but Leicestershire County Council, which runs those facilities, said it was committed to keeping both in the town centre.
The district council is hoping to attract potential developers by including the possible relocation of the council building in its advert as part of the competitive tendering process for the new Harborough Innovation Centre, the favoured location for which is Airfield Farm.
Cllr Swatridge said: “We think it’s quite exciting. It’s one of those opportunities which doesn’t come around very often.
“While the opportunity was there we thought why not grab on to it and see if it offers us anything. At this stage it’s really just about opening the door and seeing what’s out there.”
Lib Dem group leader Cllr Simon Galton said he supported a move in principle but criticised the council’s Conservative leadership for not acting sooner, when it took control of the council following the May 2007 elections.
He said: “The timing is not good and it will be fraught with difficulties. They may have missed the boat by not doing it two years ago when they took over.
“This [moving the council offices] was first being presented a few years ago when the economy was very good.
“I support the project in principle but I have serious doubts about whether it’s affordable in the current climate.”
The Symington building was the factory for the world-famous Liberty bodice between the late 1800s and the 1950s.
Prior to the district office being located in Adam and Eve Street, it had various bases such as in High Street and at the present home of Leicestershire County Council’s Harborough branch of the social services department in Northampton Road.
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Weather for Harborough
Saturday 04 February 2012
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