New county council headquarters at Linby takes shape after weather delays

The building, at the major new Top Wighay development on the Hucknall/Linby border, will replace the ageing County Hall in West Bridgford by early 2025, potentially saving £1.5m each year in running costs.

Construction began in January, but was delayed by one of the wettest springs on record.

The building’s skeleton has now been put up, and the council is hoping it will officially be opened by March 2025.

Coun Keith Girling (Con), cabinet member for economic development and asset management, said he was pleased with the progress as he visited the site on May 24.

He said: “It is going well.

"I am always trying to push things forward – perhaps unrealistically – but the end date is on schedule despite bad weather at the start of the year.

“County Hall is a beautiful old building, but it’s costing us £1.7m a year to run, and that’s £1.7m that can be put into services.

"The running cost here will be a lot less.

“All the decisions made will be made in the middle of the county, and social services will be delivered from here, with Mansfield, Ashfield and Hucknall just up the road.”

Luke Melville, assistant site manager, said: “It’s been challenging when there’s a lot of water on the ground and heavy machinery moving about.

“It should run smoother now work on the superstructure has started.”

Plans for the wider 86-acre site at Top Wighay include nearly 800 homes, a primary school, a shopping centre and 21 acres for businesses and offices.

The current County Hall costs £1.7m to maintain each year, in addition to £30m expected essential maintenance over the next 12 years and £28m to bring it up to modern environmental standards.

Coun Girling said the public engagement over what to do with the building once the council had left produced ‘some really interesting decisions, from a women’s prison to rooms for the homeless to luxury hotels’.

The council will now speak to interested developers on their visions for the site.

The new council building is being designed, project and cost-managed by Arc Partnership, and delivered through their construction partner, Morgan Sindall Construction.