End Of An Era At Wick Council Offices
18th January 2013
Offices of The Highland Council at Market Place, Wick, will close their doors for the last time at 3 pm today (Friday) ahead of an £8 million redevelopment of the site as modern Council office accommodation.
Eighty staff, including those at the Service Point, are relocating to Government Buildings, Girnigoe Street while the new offices are built at Market Place.
All business currently undertaken at the Market Place will continue at Girnigoe Street from Monday 21 January. The Service Point will open at 9.30 am.
The existing telephone lines will be discontinued from the date of the move.
New numbers are as follows:
· 01349 886606 General enquiries;
· 01349 886601 Roads and Street Lighting;
· 01349 886602 House repairs, applications and rent enquiries;
· 01349 886603 Domestic Special Uplifts and Bins, Abandoned Vehicles, Fly Tipping, Dog Fouling and Pest Control;
· 01349 886604 Blue Badge, Travel and National Entitlement Cards;
· 01349 886605 Make a payment by Debit or Credit Card;
· 01349 886608 ePlanning;
· 01349 886657 Election helpline; and
· 01955 609524 Registration of births deaths and marriages.
The Council has awarded a contract to Morgan Sindall to carry out the redevelopment of Market Place. This will see demolition of the old listed building at Market Place and refurbishment/restoration of the adjoining, Stafford Place Buildings, retaining the listed façade, to accommodate 140 Council staff currently based in a number of offices in Wick.
The new building will be built on three floors to the front and two floors at the rear.
When the new Council offices open, staff presently based at High Street (Social Work) and Rhind House (Education Culture and Sport) will move there.
A separate contract is also being progressed for the refurbishment of Wick Town Hall, including installation of a lift to make it fully accessible.
Wick councillor Bill Fernie said,"We are very pleased that finally after many years that the council offices in Wick will be fit for purpose and be able to continue to offer services to the north area of Highland and be more efficient as a building. There will be savings in the amalgamation of several buildings and modern heating and insulation will also help but the main thing is to offer better public services and retained in the centre of one of our main towns."
Councillor Fernie commented further, "The new council offices are just the start this year as we will also see the much bigger shot in the arm for the are when the new schools contract commences in August and another small contract for a new Children's home. This will be the largest capital spending by highland council in any town for education and is huge shot in the arm for the economy creating much needed work in the area over the next 3 years."
Related Businesses
Related Articles
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
Households across Scotland have received £4.1 billion in relief since the Council Tax Reduction scheme was introduced in 2013. People on low incomes are eligible for the benefit if they live in Scotland - there is no equivalent in England where most councils require each household to contribute a minimum amount of council tax, irrespective of ability to do so.
The Highland Council is preparing to carry out improvement works in Thurso at Ormlie Road and at The Mall riverside path adjacent to Janet Street. The scope of works on Ormlie Road will include junction improvements between Castlegreen Road and Juniper Drive with new drop kerbs and tactile paving and some surface repairs.
A Highland-wide partnership launched earlier in 2024 to support people on their journey towards, into and within employment is looking forward to a New Year in 2025 full of exciting opportunities designed to help hundreds more people across the Highlands unlock their work potential. Work.
The Highland Council is delighted to share that its Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme has won the Outstanding Project Award at the Scottish Green Energy Awards. Described by Scottish Renewables as a "pioneering clean power scheme", this £7 million project demonstrates the incredible impact that can be achieved through combined public and private sector investment.
The ambitious yet focused ‘Highland Investment Plan' is committed to addressing our asset challenges over the next twenty years. By using a place based approach, to ensure a more integrated community offering through the creation of new community facilities.
Applications to the Inverness Winter Payments Scheme, which is fully funded by the Inverness Common Fund, have already been awarded to 1,035 eligible households within the 7 specified Inverness Wards. Leader of Inverness Area, Councillor Ian Brown said: "Since the Scheme was opened to applications for this winter, already £114,885 has been awarded to people who live in the eligible Wards of Aird and Loch Ness, Inverness West, Inverness Central, Inverness Ness-side, Inverness Millburn, Culloden and Ardersier and Inverness South Wards.
The first Highland-wide virtual jobs fair held last month has proved to be a hit with participants and businesses. The week-long virtual event, which was delivered by the Local Employability Partnership for the West - The Highland Council, Skills Development Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Department for Work and Pensions, Developing the Young Workforce and UHI North West and Hebrides was timed to coincide with Scottish Careers Week 2024.
The Service Centre will close at 5pm on Tuesday 24 December, re-opening on Friday 27 December (opening times 8am to 5pm). It will be closed on 1 and 2 January and open 8am to 5pm from Friday 3 January 2025.
Members have considered an update on the Council's medium term financial plan and the impact of the UK and Scottish Governments’ budgets on the coming year’s funding settlement. The position is currently looking more positive than initially planned for, however more detail needs to be worked through.
