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Friday, 5 October 2018

Knowle relocation project: ready to move, but at what cost...

The new District Council HQ in Honiton is glamourously called 'Blackdown House' because it points in the direction of the ward of the former Leader, who pushed for the move - even though the building is plonked on an industrial estate:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: moving to an industrial estate where 'no-one would bother to attend a Council meeting'

It is nearly ready for the big move - taking council staff to open-plan offices and hot-desking:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: Open-plan offices have been found to reduce productivity and impair memory. They’re associated with high staff turnover. They make people sick, hostile, unmotivated, and insecure.

The Herald reports on the building:



This is when East Devon District Council’s new Honiton HQ will be ‘open for business’ | Honiton, Axminster and Seaton news - Midweek Herald

The only thing, as mentioned in passing in the piece, is the huge amount of money being spent on this project:

Expenditure:
= £10.5million (sic) for the Honiton HQ + £1.5million for refurbishment of the Exmouth Town Hall 
= £12million

Income:
= £7.5m for Knowle from PegasusLife

Deficit:
= £4.5m to be financed by borrowing

There are other estimates however:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: "The true cost of relocation is almost certainly at least £20 million."
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: Freedom of Information requests > and questions of money, process and viability
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