Pledge on £30m Stafford project
The financial downturn will not stand in the way of a £30 million project dubbed as the "start of the economic regeneration of Stafford" - according to council bosses.
Staffordshire County Council has announced it will fund the redevelopment of Tipping Street car park into offices for council workers and five shop units.
The council's cabinet has approved plans to borrow the money from the Government's low-rate Public Works Loan Board to fund the project.
Birmingham-based Stoford Developments are looking to start work this summer and aiming for a completion date of Spring 2011.
Andy Burns, director of finance, said if the new offices met the council's two per cent target for efficiency savings then it would cost an extra £140,000 a year to run them.
But he added, the council expected to reach savings of five per cent from incorporating 17 offices and 1,500 staff into the two buildings.
They have also unveiled artist's impressions on what the two Tipping Street buildings would look like.
A car park to cater for the staff has been a sticking point and a temporary one is being prepared on the Riverside site while plans and planning permission is sought for a multi-storey in North Walls.
The project is seen as a key to the town's long-term regeneration and ambitions to make Staffordshire the second most important business and investment hub in the Midlands after Birmingham.
The council also hopes the building work and the retail units will create new jobs and provide the impetus for other projects.
Deputy leader, Councillor Robert Simpson said: "We have got over the final barrier of financing the project and we are now moving forward.
"Tipping Street is a catalyst for growth. It's the essential first link in a chain of regeneration projects that aim to transform Stafford, bringing new jobs and opportunities.
"It will put Staffordshire on the map as the place to invest."
