Office moves

By Melissa Grant
PAKENHAM may soon no longer be home to the shire offices, with councillors scouting a variety of new sites within the municipality’s growth corridor.
Civic leaders are exploring long-term lease options for new civic centre accommodation, with some locations outside the Pakenham township on the agenda.
The council has been operating out of its hilltop headquarters in Henty Way, Pakenham for the last 25 years, but councillors say it’s time to go.
“The current civic centre is aged and at full capacity in terms of office space, electricity and sewerage capacity,” mayor Bill Pearson said.
A short-list of potential proponents and sites has been developed after tenders were received from 11 companies, some of which offered more than one site.
The expressions of interest were discussed behind closed doors at a special council meeting on Monday night. It was declared an in camera item, closed to the public and media, because of contractual matters.
After the meeting, Cr Pearson told the Gazette that a range of locations in the shire’s growth corridor were being considered.
“The sites are in and around the shire, they virtually stretch from Pakenham to Officer – we have quite a range of options,” he said.
Cr Pearson has assured residents that any new civic centre would be located in a position easily accessible to residents and close to existing services and infrastructure.
Cardinia Ratepayers and Residents Association (CRRA) president Gloria O’Connor has welcomed the council’s search for a new headquarters, saying the current hilltop location was inaccessible for some people.
“Because it’s on top of the hill you have to drive there,” she said.
“Rebuilding or redeveloping the (current) site as council headquarters would be costly and we’re still stuck with the same thing – I’ve always thought it was too distant from the community.”
In March, councillors ruled out funding a refurbishment or construction of a new office, each expected to cost about $25 million.
The council has a $44.6 million debt, and is working to shave $8.9 million off that figure over the coming four years.
Cr Pearson said the only option was to rent, because of the debt level.
“The single biggest thing is that if we went to build new offices there would be such an outcry because we’d be looking at $25 million,” he said. Cr Ed Chatwin said the town hall was past its use-by date and that a long-term lease was the most advantageous option for ratepayers.
“It doesn’t add to the large debt we have,” he said.
Cr Pearson said the future of the council’s Henty Way offices was yet to be discussed, but hoped it would be utilised for community-focused ventures.
“From a personal point of view I’d like to see a TAFE college or something like that for the area,” he said.
Cr Pearson said the council would continue to inform the community as the process moved forward, which he expected to happen fairly quickly.
“While no final decision has yet been made, it is certainly high time we looked at options for the future,” he said.