Knowle relocation project: What happens to a brand new £10m District Council HQ when councils merge?

There is considerable confusion over the various deals and options and projects around 'devolution':
Futures Forum: Devolution deals looking even more doubtful...

One project is to create a National Park joining East Devon and Dorset:
Futures Forum: Devolution, unitary authorities and the East Devon & Dorset National Park

Another is to unify all the district councils in Dorset:
Dorset County Council votes to support creation of two new unitary authorities - BBC News
East Dorset District Council u-turn over unitary council plans - BBC News

Although not everyone is happy:
Dorset councils merger plan 'an attack on democracy' - BBC News
Dorset councils merger plan 'referendum needed' - BBC News

As the East Devon Watch blog notes today, this has implications for East Devon:


(RE)LOCATION, (RE)LOCATION, (RE)LOCATION

30 August 2016

Dorset has announced a decision to work towards mergers of its councils:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-37196316

It does rather beg the question: what is to happen to West Dorset Council’s brand new HQ, built at a cost of more than £10 million?

It was always going to be a risky venture, when mergers and reorganisation were even at the time of the planned move being spoken of as a possibility.

To be fair to WDDC, their existing premises were very poor, very old and haphazardly arranged on three sites. They expected to sell the sites for £2.5 million, but in the end only achieved £1 million.

We do hope that our district council – in its desire to move to a spanking new set of offices in Honiton – has taken note of Dorset’s (un)intended consequences.

If such talks are abroad in Devon (which is already pretty much merging with Somerset if our Local Enterprise Partnership has its way) then it surely would be a dereliction of duty or even a misfeasance in office to consider such a move when it could be almost immediately redundant.

But, as in all important decisions in East Devon, we the residents will be the last to know what is being decided behind those closed doors in our names.

(Re)location, (Re)location, (Re)location | East Devon Watch

With a little reminder from the EDW blog:
Now you can talk Hugo, remember what you wrote about Knowle planning application | East Devon Watch
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