Sponsored by
Council and police moving out of Kettering centre
Police and council officers have backed plans to share a new office complex.
Kettering Council agreed on Wednesday to work with the police to look for a site for joint offices as part of its Suite 16 plan.
The council plans to build shared backroom offices on a new business park to act as an incentive for other businesses to join the site.
A council planning department official said: "We want to support new business parks and we recognise that the council and police can act as a catalyst."
They refused to confirm which sites they were considering but council leader Jim Hakewill denied they had decided on the site of the former scrapyard on the A14.
He said: "We have looked at the former scrapyard location and I don't think it's completely ruled out but naturally the owners have their own ideas about what may be located there. They are quite far advanced, and with our plan to act as a catalyst for bringing businesses to a new business park it doesn't look so suitable."
The stated reason for sharing the offices is to make savings, but the planning official said that reason was "subsidiary to the main aim" of stimulating business interest in the district. The official said the council was committed to keeping the customer service part of the council in the town centre.
Cllr Hakewill said a new customer service centre, which might also include partner organisations like the Inland Revenue, county council and the voluntary sector, would be a few yards from the current Bowling Green Road site.
Cllr Mary Malin, who is in charge of the Suite 16 plan, stressed that the police would also keep police services in town centres.
She said: "Police stations will not close down. They will resemble our customer service centres. They might even be in libraries like in Rothwell."
The council expects the study into the site, which will cost the council and police 7,500 each, to report back within six months and the move to be completed within five years.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Kettering
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -8 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 3 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
