A marathon closed-doors session has cleared the way for an 18-month search to find a potential new owner for Angus Council’s Forfar HQ.
Possible sale of the entire Angus House building at Orchardbank is one of the options to be included in a marketing exercise agreed by councillors on Thursday.
It could also see the 17-year-old building beside the A90 Forfar bypass leased out completely, or split into smaller office suites for rental.
Council property bosses say it is costing more than £400,000 a year to run a building which is now only 55% occupied.
They’ve turned off the heating and lights in large parts of Angus House to cut energy bills.
Appraisal of all Forfar council offices rejected
But the marketing plan was only agreed after private discussions around the marketing bid.
And it saw a failed attempt to have other council buildings in Forfar appraised while the marketing of Angus House is underway.
Carnoustie Independent councillor David Cheape said he wanted a complete review of all the council’s offices in Forfar.
It would take in Ravenswood, County Buildings and Angus House.
He wanted the options appraisal to consider future use based on lease income or sale value.
And he said it should include considerations such as required capital expenditure, suitability for office staff and environmental implications.
The full council spent 80 minutes behind closed doors considering the estates review report relating to Angus House.
But there was little debate when elected members returned to the Town and County Hall chamber in Forfar.
And Mr Cheape’s full Forfar options appraisal bid was defeated by 14 votes to 11.
Council leader Beth Whiteside led the call for the 18-month Angus House marketing exercise to proceed.
It will cost the council around £6,500.
Future options will be brought back to councillors at the end of that period.
If any urgent matters arise within that time they will be the subject of a special report.
SNP group leader Ms Whiteside said: “We’re in limbo until we actually get to the market.
“We can do options appraisals until they’re coming out of our ears.
“I think we should press on.”
The Angus House move is the next stage of an estates rationalisation programme which has saved the council £3.6m since 2015.
And it has brought in more than £1.3m by offloading properties it did not need.
Housing emergency motion defeated
The same full council meeting saw a bid to declare a housing emergency in Angus rejected.
Brechin Independent councillor Jill Scott made the call on the back of a £9m housing budget cut this year.
But SNP councillors voted against the move after saying it would make “no tangible difference” to Angus tenants.
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