20 June 2019

Richards

Campaigners have called for plans to sell the Cambridgeshire County Council headquarters, Shire Hall, to be stopped after it was revealed moving a data centre out of the historic building could cost more than £6.8 million.

That figure is in additon to the £20 million the council already expects the move to the new headquarters in Alconbury Weald will cost.

Furthermore, the 2020 deadline for moving out of Shire Hall means the authority will have to consider options that potentially put the council’s IT systems at risk of failure.

''Labour have (sic) been fighting the disposal of Shire Hall from the outset," said councillor Claire Richards, the local member for Castle and for Shire Hall. "I want to stand up for Cambridge and Cambridgeshire residents, who are facing higher council tax bills and cuts in services, whilst the County Council is planning what increasingly looks like an expensive and rushed move to Alconbury.''

It had previously been agreed that the current data centre is over 20 years old and not purpose built and - as a result - is not efficient.