The £1.5m spent on refurbishing council offices in Macclesfield’s Market Place will actually save taxpayers money in the long-run, says Cheshire East.
CEC was forced to justify the revamp after residents criticised the authority for going on a ‘spending spree’ at a time of financial constraint and when the council is making cuts to services.
But bosses said the work is necessary in order to relocate about 1,000 staff from Cheshire West to Cheshire East as part of local government reorganisation and bring offices into the 21st century.
The final phase of the work, due to be completed in April, includes the refurbishment of the first and second-floor offices.
It will let the council move in more staff from other buildings which will then be sold or rented to increase revenue.
Coun Peter Mason, cabinet member for procurement, assets, shared services and HR, said: "The savings are likely to run into millions of pounds over the coming years. In its simplest terms, this is invest to save."
Denise Griffiths, corporate accommodation manager, who is coordinating the work at Macclesfield town hall, says the facilities will improve conditions and efficiency.
She said: "It was not the best use of space. Now the offices are light, airy and open plan to make more efficient use of the existing floor space. We can now accommodate 500 staff rather than 300.
"They have been designed to get optimum value from the premises with no individual offices for managers or desks for workers and can be used by all our staff from across our offices."
She added: "Some furniture was so awful that it just had to be thrown out.
"But the rest has not gone to waste and has been used to kit out Malbank School and other organisations that can make use of it. We’ve also sold scrap metal salvaged from the work which will be reinvested in the council."
