RYEDALE District Council (RDC) has approved £2.5m of funding to relocate the authority and create a new public service hub.

Councillors agreed the funding, which will be supported by £155,000 from central Government, at a meeting of the full council last week.

The money will be used to start work on plans to locate a range of services into one new development on the site of Community House in Wentworth Street car park in Malton. This includes moving RDC from its current site, which would then be made available for new housing.

As part of the proposed move, RDC meetings would be held at the Assembly Rooms in Malton, helping to secure the venue’s long-term future.

The council has said that moving to a new building will deliver long-term savings because it is more cost effective than maintaining the current facilities.

Cllr Luke Ives, chairman of RDC’s policy and resources committee, said bringing other services onto the same new site would also enable them to deliver savings, as well as making it easier for people to get the services they need in a town centre location.

He said: “It’s important to see this as a long-term investment for the council and the people we serve. It’ll reduce long-term running costs and will mean a better service for customers who need to access services in person, as well as supporting better working between different public services behind the scenes.

"This is about making the most of each and every taxpayers’ pound. It also means we can make better use of the current civic centre site to support new housing, which we know is needed in the area.”

However, Cllr Lindsay Burr said: “After years and years of lack of investment in Ryedale House, the ruling group say it’s not fit for purpose. I agree that is usually what happens when a building is neglected.

“If only if they had invested in the upkeep of the building we may be thinking different and other uses for the building could have been thought about.

"We are where we are and the flattening of RDC building as we know it is imminent.

“The chosen site is Wentworth Street, and I am concerned about traffic chaos yet again within our town centre, the plan is to also build on the top car park of Wentworth Street and once again this will cause more traffic chaos.

“There just seems to be no strategic planning what so ever.”

The aim is for RDC to relocate by autumn 2020, subject to the initial work.