Town hall move sparks protest

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is proposing to move from Eston to Redcar.

A three-storey office block would be built and linked to Redcar Central Library and the nearby Coatham Memorial Hall would be refurbished as a civic centre.

It is almost certain the council's coalition cabinet will approve the proposal, which would involve borrowing money.

The move would be phased over three years.

Liberal Democrat councillor Glyn Nightingale, cabinet member for corporate resources, said there was a backlog of repairs at Eston Town Hall totalling £850,000.

He said the overall repair bill for all council properties, which he argued was left from the previous Labour administration, now ran into millions.

He said the current town hall had outlived its expected use by ten years.

Coun Nightingale said: "The coalition was left with a huge repair bill and we now have no alternative but to deal with this issue.

"It means we have to use our capital borrowing powers rather than impose a burden on the council tax-payers."

Responding to criticisms from Labour that the move would inevitably lead to a rise in council tax, Coun Nightingale said any increase would amount to a 'few pence.'

He said the Government had made prudential borrowing at low interest rates easier and he added that the council was investigating ways to sell property assets to raise cash.

The new town hall would mean the council would be run from two main centres, Redcar and Guisborough, rather than three, which would save running costs.

However, Labour opposition leader George Dunning said tax-payers would end up paying for the move.

He said the Eston offices, located in one of the poorest parts of the borough, should not to be closed completely.

"One would hope that the Eston Town Hall would still remain as a major satellite location for the Greater Eston population," he said.

Design options for the new town hall in Redcar will be drawn up in the next 12 months.