New lease of life on the cards for Birkenhead’s town hall

Feb 1 2012 by Liam Murphy, Birkenhead News

New lease of life on the cards for Birkenhead’s town hall

BIRKENHEAD’S historic Grade-II listed town hall is set to be used by the council for office space after attempts to sell it off failed.

The authority is also seriously considering demolition of two large office buildings either side of the main municipal building in Seacombe.

The move comes as the council seeks to save money and cut unnecessary office space across the borough with further plans to vacate, demolish and sell Liscard Municipal Building, Bebington Town Hall and annexe.

A report to be considered by the council’s ruling cabinet this week (Thursday Feb 2) outlines a series of options for the future of council-owned buildings.

These include that Birkenhead town hall, in Hamilton Square “be re-used in part to provide office accommodation for the council, within an overall facility that provides meeting and events space and supports community and cultural use”.

Among the most ambitious plans being considered is the demolition of the two annexes to Wallasey town hall, although the report suggests this could “reinforce a perception of abandonment in the Seacombe area” by the council. Refurbishment of these buildings is estimated to cost £2.3million.

Cllr Adrian Jones, Wirral’s cabinet member for corporate resources, said the authority currently occupies more office space than it needs for the numbers of staff.

He said: “There is an ongoing review of office accommodation underway with the aim of saving money on repairing, maintaining and running this large number of under-occupied buildings and instead investing in a smaller number of efficiently-run, fit-for-purpose office facilities.

“As well as rationalising office accommodation the council is also looking to encourage more agile working amongst its staff to further reduce the requirement for office space.

“Cabinet will consider a report on Thursday as to where this review is up to and amongst the measures it will be asked to recommend are the closure and demolition of a number of buildings, including Liscard Municipal Offices and Bebington Town Hall and Annexe.

“Cabinet will also be asked to approve a programme of improvement works to buildings the council plans to retain including, notably, Birkenhead Town Hall, which will see that building brought back into use as office accommodation and potentially for use by the wider community.”