Council to purchase new office despite objections

A proposal to buy a new council office in a North Yorkshire town has been given the go-ahead despite objections.

The purchase by North Yorkshire Council of Resolution House in Scarborough for an undisclosed sum was approved by a special scrutiny committee on Thursday as part of the authority's "asset rationalisation" plan.

Staff would be moved from Scarborough Town Hall and Ryedale House and customer access points would be created in Scarborough and Malton as part of the plan, members heard.

Some councillors had called for a "full independent cost assessment" and for a full meeting of the authority to decide on the scheme, but the committee voted nine members to five against the motion.

Ahead of the vote, councillor Rich Maw, who proposed the motion, said: "There is insufficient documentation to support a purchase of this significance, and if other members believe there is, that is on their conscience."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the scheme was presented as a way of avoiding up to £19m of costs to upgrade "appalling working conditions" at the ageing Scarborough Town Hall site, and could also see Malton's Ryedale House office sold to make way for housing.

During the meeting, officers emphasised that the council "campus" in Scarborough consisted of four buildings and that it was not seeking to demolish the Grade II listed town hall.

Thomas Murray, mayor of Scarborough, asked for assurances that "the town hall remains at the centre of civic life and will be maintained for civic use", highlighting the absence of "explicit safeguards".

The council said its position was that it "does not oppose the listed town hall building being retained for community or civic use, provided this does not place substantial costs" on them.

According to a report prepared for the executive committee, the scheme would create "minimum ongoing savings in property running costs of £400,000 per annum and savings of more than £20m in backlog maintenance liabilities across Ryedale House and Scarborough Town Hall".

At the same meeting, the overview and scrutiny committee also voted to endorse the decision of the executive, with 11 members in favour and three against.

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