A CONSERVATIVE-run local authority leading sweeping changes to a town centre has announced plans to rebrand the council and its buildings, turning the concrete outside wall of the Town Hall blue.

Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet will next week consider the changes as part of a drive to highlight how its interactions with residents are changing.

The rebranding will see a makeover of the authority’s logo and broader identity to help project what the Conservative administration claim is a “progressive agenda” leading “transformational changes”.

An officers’ report to the meeting states the outside of the Town Hall was in need of an appropriate upgrade to be consistent and complementary with nearby buildings.

It states the new-look building would reflect the host of town centre changes in recent years, including the Vue Cinema and Premier Inn development, the riverside area and the Feethams office and revamped Victorian Market.

The report shows how the exterior wall of the council chamber would change from being concrete with the council’s logo to one coloured blue, with the crest and the council’s name spelt out at a cost of £20,000.

The council’s deputy leader, Councillor Jonathan Dulston said as the authority had used in-house skills and resources for the rebranding, costs had been kept to a minimum.

He said much of the rebranding would not cost as assets featuring the council’s logo, such as bins, would only be updated as part of scheduled works or upon reaching the end of their functional life.

He rejected suggestions it was an inappropriate time for the exercise, saying the rebranding represented the overhaul of the council’s identity within the community and the reshaping the way the authority represents their views.

Cllr Dulston said: “The council is no different to other businesses. We are all bouncing back and we have to do something differently. We continue to crack on with those priorities which people said were important in 2019, but alongside that we think now’s the time for us to share what businesses are doing and restart and go off in a different direction.

“We think it’s important that we go back to our heritage and showcase some of our history in terms of what’s happening in 2025. So we’re going back to the crest, but a modern version of it.”