Carbon-costly Civic Centre facing chop

Wednesday, 28 October 2009

By Nick Tarver

ENFIELD Council’S headquarters could be pulled down and replaced after being criticised for pumping out thousands of tonnes of CO2 every year.

The Civic Centre, in Silver Street, Enfield Town, was recently awarded a G rating – the lowest possible – for energy efficiency.

According to the energy rating by the Department of Communities and Local Government, the centre, built in 1961 and extended in the 1970s, emitted 3,213 tonnes of carbon emissions last year, which not only contributed to climate change but wasted thousands in energy costs.

Deputy council leader Michael Lavender said the council is now looking to replace the much-maligned building as the cost of a complete refurbishment would be prohibitive.

He said: “The building is ugly: if we could pull it down everyone would be happy. I think it’s getting to the stage right now where it’s uneconomic to continue to plough money into the old centre. And we’re looking at the next ten to 20 years as the absolute shelf-life for that building.

“Some of its costs are horrendous. The council is here to provide services, not look after buildings like this. Every pound we spend on refurbishing it is a pound less on services.”

And Mr Lavender said this is part of the reason as to why the council is looking at moving Palmers Green library, which is behind the old Southgate Town Hall in Broomfield Lane.

“Sometimes the cost of refurbishing old buildings is absolutely prohibitive,” he said. “If you want the council to operate in buildings which you can’t heat efficiently and have small cubby-hole offices where staff don’t want to work, there’s a consequence. That’s why some decisions we make, although unpopular, are made for good reasons."

Douglas Coker, chairman of Enfield’s Green Party, criticised the council’s environmental record. He said: “Taxpayers are losing out in two ways: their money is being wasted in energy costs, and emissions are leading to climate change. The council should be on top of this, but it seems to be doing very little.”

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1 comments on this news item

Posted by : Donald Smith, Palmers Green | Thursday 29/Oct/2009 | Report this comment

The land forming Broomfield Park and the land on which Southgate Town Hall(1893, extn’d 1914) and The Middlx County Library Service Library (1940) were all part of one estate. The Local Board of Health purchased land at £1250 for civic purposes and subsequently built the Town Hall for Southgate UDC offices from 1893 (subsequently extended in 1914). A freehold site suitable for Enfield’s civic centre?

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