Durham County Council plans to demolish County Hall as part of a move

Councilors are scheduled to vote on a report setting out the local authority’s ambitions to move and demolish County Hall’s premises at a cabinet meeting next Wednesday.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service announced in July that council officials had altered their plans for the new headquarters in Aykley Heads by acquiring the vacant Rivergreen building.

A small extension will be built and contractors will carry out internal refurbishment work to ensure it can be used as a headquarters and civic center site from Spring/Summer 2025.

A separate office building in the north of the site is nearing completion and will be ready for occupancy from early 2024. This means that the local authority will no longer pursue previous proposals to build new Civic Center office space at Aykley Heads.

The council report indicates that subject to an agreement, it could use some land currently owned by Durham Constabulary, whose headquarters are in Aykley Heads.

Following the demolition of the existing County Hall buildings, council officials will shortly begin the procurement process for site development.

“Aykley Heads is uniquely positioned to capitalize on these attributes and serve as a driving force for County Durham’s future economic growth,” states the report. “Aykley Heads has the scale and scale to create an innovation district of regional, national and international importance.”

Continue reading:

Elsewhere there are also plans to rehabilitate and reuse the former customer access point on Front Street, Stanley, a large, dilapidated, Grade II listed building.

It’s not the first time plans have changed. The previous Labor government had planned to move the council to the Sands building on the banks of the River Wear but this was withdrawn by the current councilors and sold to Durham University.

The changes are part of an effort to create a “Durham Innovation District” to serve as a “catalyst for driving social and economic benefits across the county,” the report said.