COUNCILLORS have backed multi-million pound plans to leave County Hall, in the hope thousands of new jobs will be created in its place.

Durham County Council’s cabinet today (Wednesday, July 15) endorsed proposals to vacate the authority’s ageing Aykley Heads HQ so it can be demolished and new offices built housing an estimated 2,500 to 6,000 private sector jobs.

Facing cuts of £260m to 2020, the cash-strapped authority has been moving staff out across the county – including to Crook, Meadowfield, Seaham and Spennymoor – for several years, but intends to retain 1,000 jobs in Durham, in a yet-to-be-decided new-build base in the city centre – a move it says would bring a £1m economic boost for the area.

Today was only an early stage, with the Labour cabinet agreeing in principle to the proposals.

But Councillor Neil Foster, the cabinet member for economic regeneration, said redeveloping Aykley Heads was an enormous, exciting and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“There is an opportunity to develop Aykley Heads as the best development site in the North-East, if not the whole of the North,” he said, citing its location in a historic city, proximity to Durham railway station and good road and air links.

Cllr Foster said the council was proud of County Hall but it was reaching the end of its life and repairing it could be throwing good money after bad.

Deputy leader Alan Napier said a new building would provide a sustainable future for the authority for the next 50 years and it was the right time to move, despite the difficult economic circumstances.

Independent councillor John Shuttleworth asked why the cabinet report included no reference to the cost of demolishing County Hall, which he said would be about £10m.

Cllr Foster said all the costs associated with leaving County Hall would have to be considered.

Conservative leader Richard Bell backed dispersing jobs across the county but questioned moving to Durham city centre, due to the “high cost of land and severe parking difficulties”.

The County Durham Green Party said it was wholly opposed to the move, which it described as a total waste of money.

A detailed business plan will be put to the cabinet in the autumn. The relocation could take up to four years to complete.