Bridgend County Borough Council's chamber and committee rooms are set to receive essential maintenance and technology upgrades, the first since the civic offices opened in 1986. The work, which will take up to 14 weeks, is expected to be completed by October.
Details of the Upgrades
The upgrades will focus on the council chamber and committee rooms at the Angel Street civic offices. A council spokesman said: “We will be carrying out some essential maintenance works over the next few weeks to ensure the council chamber and committee rooms remain safe to use, fit for purpose, and suitable for supporting modern ways of working.”
“As they have not been updated since the civic offices opened in 1986 we will also be installing new technology that will improve the visual and audio quality of meetings while supporting enhanced electronic voting, live streaming of meetings, hybrid working, and more.”
Funding and Timeline
The work is being funded using existing budgets for building maintenance and will be carried out in phases to minimise disruption. The project is expected to take up to 14 weeks to complete.
Impact on Council Meetings
The plans were discussed by the chief executive of Bridgend County Borough Council, Jake Morgan, at a full council meeting on June 24. He said the refurbishments would mean the council chamber would be closed for several months, with at least one council meeting expected to be held online.
He added: “It’s a huge job putting in all the technology but it will give us electronic voting. That is a system that works. It will give us some bread and butter basics like not having leaking windows, leaking rooves, and air conditioning.”
Morgan noted that the upgrades would put the council “in a much better place” in terms of voting and counting votes, as well as for people functioning both in the chamber and remotely.
