Forfar’s historic Town and County Hall is coming back as the meeting chamber of Angus Council.
But only after councillors look again at ways of bringing down the £100,000-plus bill to move back in.
The six-figure total has been put on kitting out the town centre building for its first face-to-face meetings since the pandemic struck.
Slimline furniture and a state-of-the-art IT system to host hybrid meetings will be installed.
Returning to the listed building at The Cross was one of three options considered for the future of council meetings.
However, a single vote clinched a two-month deferral for cross-party discussion with officers about bringing costs down.
The way ahead
When Covid struck, Angus quickly moved to online meetings.
Despite an early setback when so-called Zoom bombers ambushed one committee and posted abusive and pornographic messages the set-up has worked well.
The first two meetings of the new council elected in May have taken place in a temporary chamber at Angus House council HQ in Forfar.
IT chief Sharon Faulkner delivered three options to the latest full meeting of the council.
- Continue with fully remote meetings and no council chamber.
- Return to Town and County Hall. Costed at £105k.
- New chamber in Angus House. Costed at £123K.
Town and County Hall is a Forfar common good asset and the fund gets a yearly £18,600 rental income from the council.
There was widespread support for going back there.
“It’s important we use our iconic buildings rather than let them decline,” said Montrose councillor Bill Duff.
And Monifieth member Craig Fotheringham said: “Let’s put the hybrid equipment back in and get back to Town and County Hall. It’s part of this council’s heritage.”
The You Tube question
Meetings are currently being streamed live on the council’s You Tube channel.
But officials favour a move away from that because the platform could pull the plug at any time.
Carnoustie councillor Mark McDonald said: “I completely disagree about You Tube.
“As a council we should be looking to utilise free and available software that could cost us a lot of money to house ourselves.
“There are solutions out there that will give us exactly what we want but it doesn’t cost £100,000.
“A lot of work has been done, but it’s all predicated on what ifs.”
Fellow Carnoustie member David Cheape added: “There’s complete agreement to get back to Town and County Hall.
“What everyone’s baulking at is the £105,000 cost for doing this.
“We have to get the cost down – they’ll be saying ‘they’ve spent another £105,000 on themselves’.”
The council is now in recess until the next round of committee meetings starting on August 16.
Those will remain completely remote and a detailed report on the cost of the Town and County Hall plan will be prepared for full council on September 8.
Conversation