WYRE Borough Council could switch to brand new premises as part of ambitious £30m plans to transform the centre of Poulton.
A new combined building would be on part of the Tithebarn Street car park and town hall leaders believe it could generate £150m of trading for the town centre over the next five years.
The plans centre around plans by supermarket chain Booths.
The
company wants a bespoke building with office suites and parking for 240 cars with a store of up to 36,000 sq ft and civic centre of 45,000 sq ft. The existing Teanlowe Shopping Centre would be unaffected.
The project would mean:
• A multi-storey car park on the site of the present Booths
• A new road linking from Tithebarn Street to Breck Road
• Improved pedestrian areas
Graham Booth, property director of Booths, who have been trading in the town for 35 years, said: "Our present site is becoming inadequate to provide the facilities our customers expect.
"We are looking forward to working with both Wyre Borough and the local community to develop further major plans to regenerate Poulton."
Coun Russell Forsyth, leader of Wyre Council, said: "The proposals to regenerate Poulton town centre will hugely benefit the people of the borough, local businesses and visitors alike.
"This prospective development provides the council with a unique opportunity to move to more modern and energy efficient offices and provide an improved service to the general public for less money - an aspiration we have had for a long while but something which we could not afford to do on our own.
"These improvements can only be achieved through partnership working with Booths who have shown, through their willingness to invest, that they have total confidence in Poulton in the future."
Artists impressions will be on display at exhibitions as part of a public consultation in New Year. A planning application would follow soon after and building would take 18 to 24 months.
Council staff would move from their existing office on Breck Road and the council envisages a hub which would be more accessible for the public. It is hoped there would be a reduction in running costs to provide better value for money.
The new offices would be funded through the sale of the Breck Road site, including the Poulton Community Centre. Playing fields and football pitches would be unaffected.
