Warwickshire County Council's "mothballed" office block in the heart of Warwick is still costing £265,000 per year. 

The revelation came during Tuesday's last full council meeting before May's local elections and included the final set of portfolio holder questions to be faced by deputy leader Cllr Peter Butlin, the political lead on finance and property who is not standing for re-election.

Cllr John Holland asked about the county council's Barrack Street offices which are no longer in use, although the multi-storey car park underneath is still used by staff and councillors. 

He noted the offices had been empty for "a number of years", an "agreement with all of the stakeholders that there is an intention to demolish and rebuild" but also that proposals for pop-up use of the building had been "turned down".

He added: "I have seen steam from heating coming out of the boiler flue. Plus (the council is paying) business rates, I am told.

"How much are we paying and how much have we paid for an empty building?"

Cllr Butlin said it had been "mothballed for quite some time".

"We have been seeking solutions as to what we can do with it, whether we demolish it," he said.

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"That is further complicated by the fact that it has a substantial car park underneath."

He committed to emailing Cllr Holland a full breakdown of the figures but summarised that in 2019, the running costs had been just shy of £350,000 per year, £39,000 of which was capital maintenance and £50,000 was "staff costs in looking after that building"

He continued: "To date, as a result of us mothballing that building, the costs are down to £265,000, £85,000 under the previous spend from six years ago." 

No detail was offered on what those costs are but the Local Democracy Reporting Service has requested the full breakdown from Warwickshire County Council. 

On pop-up use, Cllr Butlin said it could cost up to £600,000 "to bring the building back up to speed", a figure when added to increased energy costs that would make the option "unviable". 

He added: "The reason we are not getting any rebate on the council tax is because there is a car park underneath that we are still using.

"If we were in a position to not use that, and it has always been a complication with the use of Barrack Street, we would then get a void category for council tax.

"It is proving a bit of a problem for us, finding a solution as to whether to knock it down, redevelop it or make it good for other uses. 

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"We have yet to find anyone willing to take it on but we are looking at some different car parking solutions for the site."