Issue - meetings

The Deputy Head of Asset Management introduced the above mandate and explained that, as the previous mandate in this regard had been rather detailed, following a review this version had been developed and divided into considerations regarding the Council’s head office and civic suite in the light of the Council’s collaboration with Waverley Borough Council (WBC).  The mandate summarised the latest position and focused on short, medium and long-term options.

The short-term actions undertaken to date consisted of the relocation of the Corporate Management Team and the Democratic Services Team from Old Millmead House (OMH) to New Millmead House (NMH) to release the 7,500 square feet of office space in OMH for leasing and generating up to £250,000 per annum in rent and service charge income.  Although there was a preference to rent the office space to public sector bodies, this would be dependent upon demand.  In general, grade A or refurbished offices were in demand and tenants enquiring with regard to securing office space were seeking to take up occupation without delay.  The Council was currently in the process of agreeing a programme of works, featuring redecoration and recarpeting, in OMH on the advice of local commercial agents.  In terms of the length of lease or licence agreements, 3 to 5 year terms with 12 month mutually rolling break clauses were recommended to protect the Council’s position and long term aspirations for the site.

The medium term five year plan intended to reduce the number of desks utilised in NMH and consider the future use of the surplus office space.  WBC had confirmed that it would require de-camp space from April 2024 for a period of 18 to 24 months during the redevelopment of The Burys site in Godalming.  Therefore, this Council would need to decide whether it was willing to hold surplus office space open for WBC for that length and period of time and give itself the opportunity to trial joint working in a shared head office or pursue leasing the space to third parties.  The Executive/Management Team Liaison Group had discussed issuing WBC with a deadline by which it would need to make a commit to Millmead or not.  WBC’s subsequent response had been that it would be in a position to commit to Millmead in the next 2 or 3 months and on the basis that this Council confirmed that it would hold the space open for WBC until April 2024 at the earliest.

The longer term position acknowledged that NMH was not in good condition and required significant capital investment to upgrade the fabric of the building and that the site was allocated in the Town Centre Masterplan for redevelopment leading to an assumption that the Council would vacate the building at some point in the future.  In the event that this Council chose to co-locate at The Burys with WBC, that Council had advised that it would need Guildford’s detailed requirements in terms of desks, meeting rooms and Councillor facilities etc by the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44