TAUNTON Town Council will move into a “much-needed, larger office space” in the same building that hosts their current office.

The local authority, based at Deane House, secured a space on the second floor of the building for a public reception, meeting room, and its own council chamber.

This follows Somerset Council’s meeting of the Executive Committee on Monday, July 15 where it was resolved to let surplus office space to generate income.

Work is due to start at the end of this week, with a view to the town council moving from the current small room on the ground floor during the first week of September.

Plans were presented to councillors including the proposed layout and details of how second-hand furniture is being purchased where possible.

This sits alongside the news that a depot is in the final stages of being secured in Galmington, providing a secure place for the council vehicles and storage for the equipment and materials necessary for the growing Town Warden team.

The unit the council is trying to let is based on Cornishway.

The council, at its meeting in May, allocated £180,000 from an underspend of the Service Growth and Improvement Fund from last years budget to fund the works at the site.

Councillor Tom Deakin, leader of the town council, said: “We are delighted to have secured these spaces, allowing the team the opportunity to work together in a way that they can’t in their current space with only six desks, which was in any case, only ever a short-term solution.

“The real benefit of the larger space is that we can be more open to the public, with our public space, where we can meet members of the public to discuss matters which are important to them.

“Having our own Council Chamber will make a huge difference to how we can operate going forward, as we will be able to have a more permanent set up to stream our meetings, which we hope will further improve the quality, making them accessible to an even wider audience.

“We will also be able to offer meeting space to our Friends of volunteer groups and other voluntary organisations working for the benefit of Taunton.

“Having the depot is vital to our ambition to increase our Town Warden team and bring much more of the work we do in-house in order to be a council that delivers.

“We can hold a store of materials and assets to respond more quickly and effectively to issues that arise.”