The leader of the local Green group has defended the decision to repurpose the Royal Pump Rooms' shop to create a new customer service hub.

Following a lengthy debate at this week's full Warwick District Council (WDC) meeting, the new administration forced through the plans, despite opposition from fellow councillors and locals.

The previous Conservative-led cabinet has made the original to move more services to The Parade in February, before the Green-Labour coalition unanimously agreed to reuse the foyer at its July cabinet meeting.

The scheme comes amid the planned sale and closure of the council's Riverside House base, with alternative proposals to relocate the council's services to the Town Hall or a vacant shop deemed less favourable in a council report.

Following the two-hour discussion on Wednesday (July 26) leader of the council Cllr Ian Davison thanked his colleagues for sharing their views and the 2,300 people that signed a petition to keep the shop open.

“I know the ambience of the Pump Rooms has been a concern for many and so we have listened carefully and as a result there are additional measures such as the elegant barrier between the customer service centre and the Pump Rooms lobby, as well as the separate entrance," the Green group leader said.

"These account for some of the increase in costs, but we will be working hard to keep these as low as possible. We will continue to work to provide alternatives for artists who are currently in the shop."

Cllr Davison said the other options were "seriously considered" but would have led to an "unacceptable service" for residents and "incurred very high costs".

And he said it was important to make progress on the project to move out of Riverside House.

"Renting another property that we don’t own would also lead to considerable ongoing payments," he added.

"It costs £58,000 to the council tax payer for every month we don’t move out of Riverside House.

"This is a building the council has been trying to move out of since 2015 and the delays have been massively expensive for tax payers.

 "Buildings like the Pump Rooms and the Town Hall are special for our town and district as a whole and it’s right this decision has been very closely scrutinised.

"This issue has now been fully debated by two overview and scrutiny committees, Cabinet and Full Council. Delaying the decision further would cost more for no gain. It’s time to get on with sensitively providing a high quality customer service point for residents whilst continuing to look after our beautiful historic buildings.”

Councillors pointed out during the meeting that estimated costs have shot up from £200,000 to £410,000.

And other members also questioned the new and inconsistent information over potential footfall, as well as a four-month delay – from October this year to February 2024 – to moving out of Riverside House that only came to light over the past week. 

The Lib Dems say they are not convinced that the new timings are achievable.

(Image by Jim Osley via geograph.org.uk)