The long-awaited opening date for Penrith’s controversial £8.3million Voreda House has been revealed.
It will open its doors on Monday, June 17.
Westmorland and Furness Council staff have already started taking up residence in the Portland Place building and the transfer of staff from the town hall is said to have progressed well.
The initial vision for the building was for it to provide the now defunct Eden District Council with a single-site HQ, meaning it could house all its staff under one roof, making both the town hall and Mansion House surplus to requirements.
Eden Council purchased Voreda House from the NHS in July, 2020, in order to deliver its single site goal with a low carbon, fit-for-purpose public service hub for residents of Eden.
A meeting of Kirkby Stephen Town Council was told this week that the new anchor building for Westmorland and Furness Council had been modelled on South Lakeland House in Kendal.
Westmorland and Furness councillors had been given a tour of Voreda House on April 25.
However, it had been decided not to offer tours to the public, town councillors were told.
The building is said to be the first of its type in Europe to operate to a Passivhaus standard, which means it has to have very high levels of insulation.
A spokesman for Westmorland and Furness Council said: “The transfer of staff teams into Voreda House has progressed well and we are on course for those moves to be complete by the end of next week and for the doors to be open for public inquiries and access to services by Monday, June 17.
“The timeline between the building work being complete and moving in of staff teams has been tightly managed to ensure we can be operational as soon as possible.
“We will be communicating any changes to services next week and any customer who requires information in the meantime is advised to contact the service directly.
“Work is under way looking at options for the future of Penrith Town Hall and these will be considered at a later date.”
