The Cabinet Member for Economy and Property introduced the report which presented detailed proposals for the low carbon refurbishment of Swale House and sought Cabinet approval to allocate the required funds to the project.  She said that the Scrutiny Committee had discussed the refurbishment at its meeting on 25 February 2021.  The Cabinet Member stated that the structure of the building needed to be looked at, together with strengthening of the roof to enable the installation of solar panels.  This would be a stepped process.  A lot of work had been carried out so far, including how the building would be used in the future, and the possibility of freeing-up some of the space to re-let it.  The Cabinet Member said that this could not be done whilst the building was in its current form, and concluded by saying that the work would be a major contribution in creating a low carbon building.

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance welcomed the sensible approach to the project, especially in terms of not knowing the usage of the building in the future.  He thanked the Cabinet Member for Economy and Property and officers for their work on the project.

In response to a question, the Cabinet Member for Economy and Property confirmed that external funding streams were always sought to take pressure off the Council.  The Cabinet Member for Environment welcomed the project which he considered to be sound and an essential first step towards a zero-carbon building.

Resolved:

(1)      That the Chief Financial Officer be authorised to borrow either internally or externally up to £1.9m and allocate the funding to installing double glazed windows, LED lighting, repairing and insulating the roof, insulating the under-croft and carrying out minor internal alterations.