A REVIEW into closing South Gloucestershire Council offices, including the relocation of staff from Kingswood to Yate, has closed.

Up to 230 staff are expected to move to the authority’s Badminton Road office, where 950 employees are already located, when Kingswood Civic Centre closes.

The council’s ruling Conservative party has already approved the closure of the centre, which was refurbished in 2011 at a cost of £6million, to help save £928,000 from its corporate property budget.

But Yate councillors fear the extra staff will impact on traffic in the town and neighbouring industrial roads and residential streets will bear the brunt of car parking as the Badminton Road car park already only offers 312 dedicated staff spaces.

Cllr Ruth Davis (Lib Dem, Yate) told the Gazette in February, before the consultation opened: “There will be definitely a bit more traffic but we are more concerned about the parking.”

Cllr Davis, leader of South Gloucestershire’s opposition Liberal Democrat group, said it was imperative that land adjacent to the offices which has been earmarked for a park and ride facility for years was not lost.

“We want to ensure the park and ride site is not affected in any way,” she said. “The site, next to the new solar farm, is saved for a park and ride although we don’t know when it will come into use but we do not want to lose it.

“We do not want the park and ride site to be taken up by office parking.”

Almost 150 responses were received and the council said they will now be considered in conjunction with further work on costs and the viability of a number of options when the council’s resources committee meets in June. At that meeting, councillors are expected to make a decision on which option) to progress.

Council leader Cllr Matthew Riddle (Con, Severn) said: “I would like to thank the public, staff and other stakeholders including the trade unions, who have taken the time to respond to this process.

"The council’s priority is to protect frontline services wherever possible and the options presented so far show that we can do that, while at the same time saving money on building costs and bills, etc.

“Any options that include changes to the way we deliver services or that impact on our staff will mean further conversations about how we manage that, but we are committed to serving the people of Kingswood and to our staff.”

The council has already made savings of £56million and needs to save an additional £22million from annual spending by 2019/20.

The accommodation review comes at the same time as a review of library services and the creation of community hubs, where a number of services including council One Stop Shops are run from a handful of locations across the district.