For the last two and a half years, valuable Council office space has been left mothballed and empty rather than generating an income for the Council.
In many organisations, the new reality is that staff now work from home at least part of the week meaning vacant desks and under-used space.
Working spaces at the Council’s offices at Shute End in Wokingham were consolidated to the ground floor and basement back in January 2023, with the second floor and most of the first floor left empty.
This has saved running costs of £63,000 per annum, but I and other Conservative councillors have repeatedly pointed out that significantly more money could be made if this space was let out or by consolidating other Council buildings. Yet, it’s not just us who have thought this would be a good idea. Generating an income from the space was one of the stated aims of the Liberal Democrat-run Council.
When the consolidation was first in communicated in 2022 in an email to staff said: “This also means we will have the ability to rent out this space to other partners, including the voluntary sector, which will reduce costs further.”
So, what has happened since? Absolutely nothing it appears.
Yet other Councils have been successful in filling their under-used space with other organisations and businesses. Brent Council advertises spaces to let in its Civic Centre office on three out of its nine floors.
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council have opened up their offices as co-working spaces. Tunbridge Wells Council said in a press release: “The Council will remain in the building but on a reduced floorplate.” It now houses a number of small and medium sized businesses including a recruitment agency and a bakery.
The Money and Pensions Service, an arms-length body of the Department of Work and Pensions, moved into part of Bedford Borough Council’s office building last year.
Yet, it’s not just about generating an income for the Council, there are other benefits too.
The former Mayor of Bedford said in 2024, “These high-quality jobs based in Borough Hall will mean more people in the centre of the Bedford area, using and spending money in shops, restaurants and outlets in and around the town centre.”
Wokingham Liberal Democrats have let down residents by failing to generate an income that could fund services. Having clobbered out town centres with massive parking charges, they have again failed our local business community by not utilising the space to bring more workers into Wokingham town centre to support shops and restaurants locally.
There is a lack in drive and ambition at the heart of the Liberal Democrat leadership of the Council. This is just one example, but it speaks to a larger problem with the administration.
Wokingham Borough needs a new administration that will bring new and fresh ideas for the benefit of residents and local businesses – and you’ll only get that with the Conservatives
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen is the leader of Wokingham Conservatives
