A COUNCIL building hit by concrete cancer needs £20 million of repairs and has just ten years of life left, a shock report reveals today.
County Hall at Croesyceiliog, home to Monmouthshire county and Torfaen borough bouncils, was thought to have been in need of around £10 million worth of repairs but a new survey estimates that figure has now doubled and says the vast building has no more than a decade of life left.
The report - carried out by consultants and commissioned by Monmouthshire council - is already on the desks of the corporate teams of both councils and will emerge publicly in full in the coming weeks.
But Steve Greenslade, Monmouthshire's corporate director for resources, said the evidence adds weight to the case for a move and sooner rather than later.
He said: "We had to work out whether County Hall was worth more to both councils dead or alive and the report concluded that a move would be the best thing.
"The problems have escalated considerably and repairs will cost more than £20 million. That's on top of £1.6 million we already spend per year on the building, which is expensive by modern standards."
Deciding to foot the bill for repairs, a 50-50 split between the two authorities, would mean the whole front of the building being re-cladded.
And though the report suggests the worst is 10 years away, Mr Greenslade says the time for making an actual decision has to be now.
He said: "Any decision we make with Torfaen will take about four years to become reality and, if 10 years is the maximum time the building can survive without having had the repairs done to it, we need to act quickly.
"Otherwise we will run out of time and be forced into spending the money for safety's sake.
"The decision will be made within months not years once everyone concerned has read the report and we've made a decision on whether to stay, move together or move separately."
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