North East Lincolnshire Council this year will see the vast majority of its staff and partners, brought together to work in and support Grimsby town centre through its Doughty Road depot project.
When the refurbishment of Doughty Road is complete in late summer this year, 300 council and partner staff will be working from the completely refurbished major works depot.
It sits very close to the town centre and neighbours the Town Hall, the Municipal Offices and New Oxford House – together those buildings will then house over 1,000 employees of not only the authority, but staff of partners in both project delivery and health.
Council leader Philip Jackson said: “We have been clear about this authority’s efforts to support our town centre – our purchase of Freshney Place, and then the House of Fraser building is evidence of this.
“However, we have also considered how we need to make every effort possible to encourage and increase footfall to both Freshney Place and the surrounding town centre. Our plan to re-locate staff, where possible, into the town centre is a way of doing just that.”
The new Doughty Road depot will see the amalgamation of services from the current site and the Gilbey Road Depot. It will accommodate all teams that are currently housed at the sites as well as the council’s environmental fleet, bin wagons, education buses and associated vehicles.
Efficiencies will include savings associated with staff working together on one site with modern facilities and infrastructure, green energy from solar panels, battery storage, rainwater harvesting and an air source heat pump. All the hard core from the demolished buildings has also been used for the ground works, with all metal and wood from the demolition recycled.
Stewart Swinburn, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Transport added: “I’m delighted to see this approved by Cabinet. We feel strongly that this is a necessary development for the borough and one that will provide countless benefits to the teams working there and Grimsby as a whole.”
