BARNSLEY Council’s ruling cabinet members are set to approve work costing more than £3.4m to ‘future-proof’ a number of buildings in the town - including £500,000 on improving the heating system following complaints from employees.
At Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, councillors will discuss spending the money on four schemes - car park lighting at Gateway Plaza, heating at Westgate Plaza, drainage at Elsecar Heritage Centre and work at the Penistone One Public Estate.
A total of £285,000 has been earmarked to be spent at Gateway Plaza which would result in an annual efficiency of £48,000.
The report states: “The council owns the freehold of Gateway Plaza, including the car park areas.
“The tenants are responsible for the maintenance of their leased areas however the council remains responsible for providing services to the common structures, areas, and services in the car park, including emergency lighting.
“Following a recent fixed wire/emergency lighting inspection it was noted that there are several failed units - approximately 60 per cent of installed lighting - throughout the car park which places the council at risk of an unintentional event.
“The proposal in the business case is to replace all lighting units with LEDs, making the car park safer but also the new design takes advantage of natural daylight, and installation of sensors to manage lighting levels and test emergency lighting controls, reducing carbon footprint by 15 per cent.”
More than half a million pounds is also being mooted to be spent at Westgate Plaza in the town centre - a council building where its employees work.
The scheme would overhaul the unit’s heating system and generate savings of £74,000 each year.
It has the capacity of 1,000 people but is currently only operating at around 60 per cent of that figure.
The council are hoping to exploit the usage of the building and as such are hoping to ensure the heating and cooling systems are properly functional.
The report added: “Westgate is now over ten years old which is usually when significant investment via the maintenance life cycle is required.
“The current system now has numerous faults which have been addressed piecemeal and with limited success.
“Anecdotally, the temperature of the building is the source of most complaints to the Facilities Management Team and during the ‘Let’s Talk’ sessions.
“This investment will substantially reduce future reactive maintenance costs.”
Work totalling £1m is also set to be spent on a new drainage system at Elsecar Heritage Centre, with savings of around £90,000 a year.
It’s hoped that the scheme will help with the council’s ambitions to expand the offer at the site.
“Elsecar Heritage Centre has a strong retail and refreshments offer as well as an entertainment space which can host 900 visitors and is frequently used for craft and retail fairs, weddings and the Suppa Club,” the report added.
“The drains at Elsecar largely date from the Victorian era.
“Most are in a state of partial collapse with frequent blockages having to be managed to keep the site operational.
“This project addresses the current drainage faults, reduces reactive maintenance costs and increases capacity which will support further development of the site.”
The Penistone One Public Estate comprises four separate units - the library, town hall, family centre and IKIC Centre.
Over the last 18 months thorough consultation has taken place with stakeholders to consider retaining, divesting, enhancement and alternative options for each venue.
More than £1.5m has subsequently been set aside to refurbish the library to ensure that up to seven different organisations can work from that single property.
It is hoped that this would save around £48,000 a year and if successful, the scheme could be rolled out elsewhere across the borough.
