Plans for new Durham Council HQ at Aykley Heads set to change

Relocating Durham County Council’s head offices and its thousands of workers has been an ambition of the authority for years and has involved several different locations. 

Last year, council officers settled on relocating to a campus at the nearby Aykley Heads site in Durham as well as repurposing a dilapidated building in Stanley town centre. 

The approach proposed by the authority last year involves: 

• Constructing a new "modest-sized civic building" and conference centre for businesses at Aykley Heads
• Occupy other council-owned offices already being built at Aykley Heads
• Refurbish and reuse the former customer access point on Front Street, Stanley, a large, run-down Grade II listed building which the council has been unable to sell

The joint administration, made up of Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Independents, said the proposals will save money, safeguard and create up to 780 jobs, spark investment, income and regeneration, and fund levelling up projects with the profits of the sale.

Now, the plans are set to slightly change if they are backed by cabinet members on Wednesday.

In an update to all council staff seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the authority’s chief executive John Hewitt said the first building at the north of the Aykley Heads site is nearing completion and will be occupiable from early 2024

What’s new, according to Mr Hewitt, is a proposal to acquire the Rivergreen building, also on Aykley Heads.

If approved, the authority will complete the purchase of the building and build a small extension and carry out internal refurbishment work to make sure it is ready to use as a headquarters and Civic Centre site from spring/ summer 2025.

The Rivergreen building, located near Durham police's HQ, is at the Aykley heads site (Image: Google)

However, purchasing the Rivergreen building would present a change of plan for the authority - meaning it will no longer proceed with earlier proposals to build a new Civic Centre office space at Aykley Heads. 

Instead, the previously outlined site will be available for commercial development.

“These revised plans, which support our Inclusive Economic Strategy, will provide us with the opportunity to make the best use of our assets and ensure value for money through our accommodation strategy,” Mr Hewitt said. 

The authority’s cabinet will discuss the proposed changes on Wednesday - however, that part of the meeting is restricted and will not be open to the public. 

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It is not the first time plans have changed. The previous Labour administration had planned to relocate the council to The Sands building on the banks of the River Wear, but that was then scrapped by the current councillors in power. 

Amy Harhoff, the authority’s corporate director of regeneration, economy and growth, said: “At this stage, cabinet are being asked to consider a proposed update to our office accommodation strategy.

"We have shared some brief details with our workforce and elected members as we wanted them to be aware that cabinet were meeting to discuss the update.

“We will continue to keep our staff and elected members informed of the plans for our office estate as we move forward.”