IT is a dilemma for all public sector organisations which are located in ageing buildings – in the age of austerity, how can they justify spending large sums of money on nice new offices?

At a time when thousands of jobs are being shed, and libraries, arts centres and leisure facilities are being shut, local authorities would understandably face an outcry if they spent money on themselves.

It is a problem which troubles Durham County Council and Darlington Borough Council, both of which are based in an unattractive, old-fashioned offices.

Darlington council tested the water a few years back by mooting a plan which suggested Tesco funding a new town hall in return for a town centre superstore. The people of the town swiftly made it apparent that the council should not proceed.

We now have Durham County Council paving the way to bulldoze the ageing and also pretty ugly County Hall on the Aykley Heads site.

The controversy has been contained so far because a) the plan is in its infancy and b) it has been sugared with the promise that the development of the site will create between 2,500 and 6,000 private sector jobs. Councillor Neil Foster, cabinet member for economic regeneration, goes as far as to call it an "enormous, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity".

The fact that the estimate of how many jobs will be created is so woolly shows that the sweetening of the pill is sheer guesswork at present, and there is also precious little detail on the costs of the move.

So that takes us to the promise of a detailed business plan in the autumn. The people of cash-strapped County Durham will expect to see much more flesh on the bones before the future of the Aykley Heads site is cast in stone.