County Hall sale on hold following challenge

The marketing of County Hall is set to be put on hold following a challenge from Conservative councillors.

Last month plans to market County Hall for alternative uses were agreed by councillors following a meeting of the Resources and Performance Cabinet Panel on Thursday 19th June.

The plans would see all democratic services relocated to a new council chamber in Stevenage at a cost of £1m.

However, Conservative county councillors have formally requested that the decision be called in, which means it will be subject to further scrutiny by councillors.

The lead signatory of the request is Cllr.Alex Curtis (Con, Hoddesdon North), with the notice stating the reasons for the call-in:

"We would like to call-in this Cabinet decision for the following reasons:

1.) Hertford has been the civic centre of Hertfordshire for a thousand years – The Grade 2*-listed council chamber at County Hall is the place with the gravitas needed to serve as the location for civic, ceremonial and administrative meetings. The potential for better use of the facility, including for private functions and significant public-facing events, has not yet been fully considered.

2.) The future of local government is still uncertain given Whitehall’s plans for local government reorganisation and reform. Why spend upwards of £1 million to refurbish a substandard setting elsewhere for temporary use when we already have an adequate council chamber in Hertford?

3.) The proposal to keep the front of County Hall, as was previously agreed by Cabinet, appears to be ruled out by an extraordinary £9.5 million separation cost. However, no consideration has been given to the council chamber and committee rooms at County Hall being retained and refurbished as part of a developer agreement on behalf of the residents of Hertfordshire to remain the centre of civic life in our county."

A spokesperson for the county council said: "The cabinet decision to market the County Hall site for alternative uses has been called in for scrutiny, following a request made by a group of county councillors.

"The decision will now be considered by the cross-party overview and scrutiny committee within the next 10 working days. The committee can decide to let the cabinet decision stand or refer the decision back to cabinet for reconsideration. The decision cannot be implemented until this process has been resolved."