A £3.7-MILLION project to provide an office extension and additional parking facilities at West Devon Borough Council?s Tavistock base moved a step closer last week, after the borough?s planning committee gave the proposals the thumbs up. The extension at Kilworthy Park will provide space for a new open plan office area and other ancillary offices, toilets, a new customer service area, waiting areas, meeting rooms, a new council chamber, kitchen area, members? room, mayor?s office and shower. There will also be an additional extension adjacent to the present council chamber, which the borough intends to let out. The borough council?s car park will be extended, from 87 spaces to 108. Planning officer Ed Persse told the committee the site was ?more than capable? of accommodating the proposed extensions, which would be well screened from the town?s vantage points and unlikely to impact on wider views. He said: ?The greatest impact will be the extension at the front of the building. This modern and vibrant design undeniably contrasts markedly with the somewhat plain appearance of the existing building. The ?bold approach? was not considered to cause any detriment in amenity or in design terms, he said. Mr Persse told the committee the proposals for the site would require the loss of at least ten trees, but that none of them were subject to tree preservation orders. He said the increased parking spaces were significantly below the maximum standard, which would be to provide an extra 135 spaces in comparison with the 21 proposed. He said the council promoted car sharing and other measures to reduce the level of vehicle use and a green travel plan was also being prepared. Lesley Halton, the borough?s corporate director, said the project had been sparked by the impending closure of the borough?s Okehampton offices and the subsequent move of staff to Tavistock, plus the need for additional customer service facilities and more public meeting space. ?To pay for this we are putting in a two-storey commercial letting space which we will be charging commercial rates for. ?This will also increase employment opportunities in the Tavistock area,? said Ms Halton. The project was being carried out at no cost to the council tax payer. And she said the use of energy-saving technologies in the new accommodation and the existing buildings at Kilworthy Park was also expected to reduce operating costs for the council. Ms Halton said the borough was now involved in the final stages of refining the specification for the new buildings before the project was put out to tender. ?We expect the project to be completed by late autumn next year,? said Ms Halton.
