Ebbw Vale Civic Centre demolition costs ‘about £400,000’

THE demolition of the former Blaenau Gwent council headquarters, the Civic Centre in Ebbw Vale, cost less than expected, a committee has been told. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Governance and Audit Committee on Wednesday, June 21, senior council staffed were quizzed over the decision to leave the building in 2020.
This follows criticism from Audit Wales in their “Springing Forward” report published earlier this year.
The report said Blaenau Gwent residents had not been consulted on the move from providing council services at the Civic Centre to library-based hubs, and that decisions should be accompanied by impact assessments.
The council has now produced a retrospective integrated impact assessment of the process to close the civic centre and move to the hubs model.
Director of regeneration Ellie Fry said: “If you remember in 2020 during the (Covid-19) pandemic we vacated the Civic Centre, as was the instruction from government.
“We left the building with immediate effect and had no real way to consult at that point as we were trying to manage an emergency.
“It’s not an excuse but we were in a period where it wasn’t business as usual.
“Following that, the decision was made to not to go back and knock it down.”
Ms Fry told councillors and lay members that the council had already been discussing decommissioning the Civic Centre.
This is because the centre – which was built in 1964 – was getting towards the end of its operational lifespan and would have required “significant investment” if the council were to stay there.
Ms Fry then explained a number of reports were brought in front of councillors, which culminated in the decision in March 2021 to move to the local hubs model with the council officially moving to an “agile working” pattern.
Ms Fry said: “The hubs were based on part on our pandemic response we omitted to do the impact assessment for the closure, and this covers the paperwork we hadn’t provided.”
Cllr Wayne Hodgins said: “It would be nice to know the final costs of the demolition process.”
Cllr Hodgins also asked whether the council is “actively marketing” the site for a housing development – which is part of the Ebbw Vale placemaking plan.
Ms Fry said: “I don’t have the exact figure.
“I think it was about £400,000, it was a lot less than initially anticipated.
“We did estimate the demolition would cost between £600,000 to £700,000.”
Answering the question on the site’s future, Ms Fry said: “The site is in our housing prospectus.
“Our housing team is looking at putting together a scoping document for development of the site which will be mixed use, private and social.”
Cllr Hodgins said: “I’m pleased to hear the budget came in under our expectations, taking into account the cost pressures we are under.”
Lay member and committee chairwoman, Joanne Absalom asked whether closing the Civic Centre had impacted businesses.
Ms Fry said: “We still use the majority of suppliers and businesses at our other buildings.
“But it’s been three years now and we’ve not had anything brought to our attention.”
The committee voted to that they had been “assured” that the impact assessment had been completed in line with legislation.
The impact assessment will also be discussed at a meeting of the cabinet in July. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​