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New Corporate Headquarters

Latrobe Council to proceed with $8 million headquarters in Morwell

By Latrobe City Council - 14th March 2002 - Back to News

The first component of Latrobe City’s new Corporate Headquarters has been announced, an $8 million dollar project to be constructed on land located between Commercial Road and the railway line in Morwell’s CBD, but Council will hold over indefinitely a $5 million library/Council Chamber/ function room.

The new Corporate Headquarters will be located opposite the Latrobe Regional Gallery and the proposed Justice Precinct, and is adjacent to Morwell’s Rose Garden.

Latrobe City Mayor, Councillor Brendan Jenkins, said that Bligh Voller Nield the design architects had formulated a number of design principles for the creation of a new Council headquarters, which were presented to the steering committee and to public meetings for endorsement, following extensive canvassing and consultation with Council and the community over their expectations.

“The design principles include that the building be: dynamic and enlivening to the streetscape; welcoming and inclusive to the community; an environmental showcase – educational and inspirational; forward thinking – progressive and sustainable; a landmark building – iconic and specific; cost effective; flexible – allowing for change and growth; responsive – generated by user needs and environment; and a catalyst to civic pride and growth,” Cr Jenkins said.

Cr Jenkins said a two-component approach to the construction of the Corporate Headquarters in Morwell has been endorsed by Council as best providing the necessary infrastructure to allow a smooth operational centre for the delivery of Council services throughout the municipality, while minimising costs. “Council has approved the first component ‘the Office and Public Square’ component as one which is responsible and practical,” Cr Jenkins said.

“The first component involves the construction of the office building and external works and fit-out, and will provide a badly needed centralised administrative headquarters to allow efficient service delivery.

 The second stage will involve the construction of the library and Council Chamber area. The timing of the second component is one which will be evaluated after further community consultation.

“While there are economies to be gained through building both components together, the higher than expected costs of library facilities as well as a possible commercial partnership, mean that the second component can be held over, pending confirmation of State Government assistance or other opportunities,” Cr Jenkins added.

“The Headquarters project will result in significant real jobs. The project will be structured to use local materials and labour. Additionally, the new Corporate Headquarters allows Council to meet its obligations to provide equal access to all its citizens whatever their ability, and Council is ensuring that access, efficiency and environmental objectives are integrated into the new building design.

Cr Jenkins said a key factor with the construction of the new Corporate Headquarters is that there will be no necessity for any rate rise for the community as a consequence.

“The project can be incorporated within the Council’s adopted five-year financial plan without any further increases in rates. Council’s financial plan requires rates to be increased in accordance with CPI and this project can be accommodated within those parameters,” Cr Jenkins concluded. 

A series of community briefing sessions on the Corporate Headquarters Project is being held at Kernot Hall in Morwell, late this week and early next week.  The sessions will provide details of the concept design, costs and proposed funding for the project.  The sessions will be held:
=      Thursday, 14 March 2002 at 5pm – 6pm
=      Friday, 15 March 2002 at 12 noon – 1pm
=      Monday, 18 March 2002 at 1pm – 2pm
=      Monday, 18 March 2002 at 5.30pm – 6.30pm
=      Tuesday, 19 March 2002 at 5.30pm – 6.30pm

For further information contact Latrobe City Council, telephone 1300 367 700

Latrobe’s new Corporate Headquarters
Questions and answers

Why is the new Corporate Headquarters needed?
The functions of the former City of Moe, City of Morwell, City of Traralgon, Shire of Traralgon, and parts of the Shire of Narracan and Shire of Rosedale were all amalgamated, and while there were supposed to be a number of efficiencies as a result, the practical aspect of streamlining and providing a high level of service from six or seven sites revealed deficiencies.

Council’s administrative functions and associated staff are currently located in six different buildings spread over three towns. This situation results in unnecessary costs and inefficiencies. The former Traralgon City building is currently at capacity with approximately 60 staff. There are another 60 staff located in the old Library, old Traralgon Shire office and separate offices in Breed Street Traralgon, and a similar number are located in the Morwell Service Centre.

Half a million dollars was spent in refurbishing, particularly those buildings in Traralgon, and relocating a number of services and activities. This has not proved to be a satisfactory arrangement for the long term, and therefore Council has looked at a number of alternatives to best accommodate the current and future needs of the organisation.

Effectively it means that a new Corporate Headquarters is needed which can deliver a high quality range of Council services in the most efficient manner. It makes sense for these headquarters to be built in a practical position near the centre of the municipality, which is why the Morwell site has been chosen.

In consolidating corporate operations into one building, there will be savings in electricity, such as in lighting, heating and cooling; in equipment such as photocopiers, computer equipment and telephones; in communication costs such as petrol and telephone bills; and in staff time through not having to commute between offices.

Several of the existing buildings are substandard and would need considerable maintenance work in the near future if retained for their current purposes. By moving a number of operations into new premises, considerable building maintenance and refurbishing costs will be avoided.

How much will the Corporate Headquarters cost?
The Office and Public Square component will cost just under $8.1 million, and will require only $2 million of new borrowings.

Office and Public Square Funding Arrangements:

Existing Loan                                                                           2,336,000
Proceeds from Property Sales                                                   2,093,500
Allocation from 2002/2003 Capital Works Program                      1,579,500
New Borrowings                                                                       2,000,000
                                                                                             $8,009,000

How is Council to fund this without a rate rise?
The project can be incorporated within the Council’s adopted five-year financial plan without any further increases in rates necessitated by the project. Council’s financial plan requires rates to be increased in accordance with CPI and this project can be accommodated within those parameters. 

Is this the cheapest option?
No, cheaper alternatives are available. However, these alternatives depend on more extensive asset sales and do not provide for improved efficiencies and/or expanded library services. Council has decided that the option adopted provides both increases in efficiency and accommodates improved libraries in the most cost effective manner.

Will services still be provided in Traralgon?

Council has once again confirmed its intention to retain and utilise the former Traralgon City building as a library and Citizen Service Centre. A full range of services will be provided at the Traralgon Citizen Service Centre, just as are currently delivered at the Moe and Morwell Citizen Service Centres. Effectively it is the corporate administrative arm of Council that is being moved. Services to ratepayers will remain.

What will happen to the Kath Teychenne Centre, the North Wing (former library),  West Wing (former Traralgon Shire office), and the Neighbourhood House in Traralgon?
Latrobe City Council is currently inviting expressions of interest from community based organisations and community service providers that may be interested in purchasing properties identified as surplus to the City’s requirements. This does not include the Kath Teychenne Centre.

Independent consultants completed a process to determine if the North and West Wings on the Traralgon Civic Precinct were suitable for the relocation of the Traralgon and District Historical Society, the Traralgon Band and the Traralgon Neighbourhood House. It was decided that none of those properties could have been easily modified to meet those groups’ needs.

The current property occupied by the Traralgon Neighbourhood House is not included in the expression of interest process at this stage.

What will happen to Morwell’s library? 
Although a project program has yet to be developed the current Morwell library site is expected to be incorporated into the proposed Justice Precinct in Morwell. As such, any library incorporated into the Corporate Headquarters would not be available for use at the anticipated time of construction of the Justice Precinct.

Council has therefore taken steps to relocate the Morwell library into larger premises in the ex-Employment National building in Elgin Street. The size of the building is similar to that of the proposed library in the Corporate Headquarters. Some refurbishment work is necessary to enable the building to function as a library with the major cost being the fit-out of shelving.

The shelving in the present Morwell Library is fixed timber shelving which is totally inadequate for today’s trends in library media. Shelving acquired as part of the new Morwell library relocation will be flexible, be able to meet today’s needs, and be able to be incorporated in the library’s new permanent home.  

“By providing a new Corporate Headquarters, efficiencies can be achieved and better governance and service delivery provided for ratepayers” Councillor Brendan Jenkins, Mayor


Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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