‘All options open’ over building’s future

A council leader says no decision has yet been made on the future of a town hall which is becoming “more costly to maintain”.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead headquarters, built in 1962, could cost nearly £14m to modernise, a council report has said.

Councillors meeting next week are recommended to commission a review to consider a move to a new building.

However council leader Andrew Johnson said all options would be explored.

The council officers’ report added the existing town hall in St Ives Road could not meet the Conservative-run council’s climate target as its energy performance was deemed ‘only just acceptable’.

The Liberal Democrats have since launched a campaign to save the town hall, saying it could be sold off to developers.

Councillor Johnson explained the options include moving into a “fit for purpose” council building or the keeping the current town hall.

He said: “If the business case doesn’t stack up for a variety reasons, both economic or social, then we won’t be proceeding because the cost of doing so will be significant and we will have to go through a very, very robust process to progress it.

“As a result of all this, we could be better off staying on the existing site and investing that money to meet our climate targets.”

He added if the town hall was scrapped, he thought it could be repurposed for community or leisure use, or housing.