Office closure confirmed by council

Cornwall Council has approved plans which will see the authority’s offices at Dolcoath Avenue in Camborne closed, with the site potentially used for affordable or extra care housing.

The decision was taken during a discussion on the ongoing ‘Estate Transformation Programme’ – an outline business case to reduce the size of the council’s estate, its costs and its carbon footprint while maintaining service delivery for residents was approved in July 2021.

The council said that the offices at Dolcoath Avenue now see occupancy running at around just 10% of capacity, and costs around £500,000 a year to operate.

It said to continue using the building would require investment of up to £6.4m in repairs to the structure and to undertake alterations.

A recommendation to close the building was approved unanimously.

Cllr David Harris said: “As a Cabinet we have to take some difficult decisions, and this was one that certainly required careful consideration.

“We have to balance the need to provide core office space for our staff with the requirement to ensure we are providing value for money for our taxpayers.

“By closing the offices at Dolcoath Avenue in due course, we can reduce both our running costs and carbon footprint significantly.

“We can also utilise our other facilities in the area, including Tolvaddon, Kresen Kernow and South Wheal Crofty to ensure there is no disruption to service delivery and to provide the essential office space our staff require for collaborative working.

“If we are able to utilise the vacated site to provide affordable housing or extra care housing will be an ideal way to help address some of the housing issues in the area, and I look forward to working on those plans quickly.

“I hope that we will create a new chapter for the area and benefit residents in the process.”