THE £475,000 purchase of the Gazette’s former Dursley offices by the town council has been completed.

Dursley Town Council secured planning permission from Stroud District Council to convert the Long Street site into a long-stay car park in September but the purchase of the building was not finalised until last week.

Councillors felt that development of the site into a car park could help alleviate parking problems in the centre of the town.

It had been hoped that the site could be used for parking prior to the demolition of the office block on the site but planning conditions mean that this cannot be done.

Mayor of Dursley, Cllr Neil Grecian, said: “A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes and I am pleased that we have achieved our objective of securing the purchase of this plot in 2017. 

“Now the next phase commences to facilitate the construction of a new long-stay car park for Dursley.”

Do you have any pictures of life at the old Gazette offices? We'd love to see them. Email photo@gazetteseries.co.uk?

A new committee has been formed by the town council to manage the next stages of the process of converting the land into a car park which will provide space for 47 cars as well as include provision for cyclists and motorbikes.

The committee will be chaired by Cllr Symon Ackroyd who was unanimously elected to the role.

He said: “I am pleased that my fellow councillors unanimously appointed me as chairman and I look forward to progressing this project in the new year. 

“There is a lot of work in front of us and the new committee will be meeting in January to agree a consultant to advise the council through the procurement process and to allow the appointment of the best contractor.

“The site will remain unoccupied prior to the demolition of the building; the site is subject to quite strict conditions and unfortunately it is not possible to meet the planning conditions to allow temporary use by the public.”

Reaction to the town council’s plan was widely positive ahead of the submission of a formal application with dozens of letters of support submitted.

Further information on the project is available by emailing clerk@dursleytowncouncil.gov.uk or calling 01453 547758.