FEARS are mounting over increased traffic and too few parking spaces at South Gloucestershire Council’s flagship offices in Yate after the closure of Kingswood Civic Centre was agreed in principle.

The Conservative-led council’s Policy and Resources committee voted in favour of closing the Kingswood office at a meeting on Monday (February 1) which, if agreed after a public consultation, will see more than 230 staff move to the Badminton Road office, where 950 staff already work, sparking concerns over where employees will park.

The 312 dedicated staff parking spaces at the offices were branded ‘ridiculous’ when the £32million development opened in 2010 with local business owners and residents angry at council workers parking outside their properties.

Cllr Ruth Davis (Lib Dem, Yate) said: “We want to ensure there are not more parking problems.

“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.

“There has been talk of extending the Badminton Road car park and we have queried that as we do not want the park and ride site to be taken up by office parking.”

Kingswood Civic Centre, which was refurbished in 2011 at a cost of £6million, costs £600,000 to run annually, with Badminton Road overheads totalling £1.1million. Closing it will go some way to saving the £928,000 required from the council’s corporate property budget and the council said staff could be absorbed into Badminton Road, which was designed with a ratio of seven desks to every 10 members of staff.

Council leader Cllr Matthew Riddle (Con, Severn) said: “There is space for office staff to move to Badminton Road if needed. With this project we are looking at how we could reduce the size, cost and environmental impact of where and how we work, by taking out empty space and smarter working for staff.

“The council needs to make savings, and an approach that makes potential savings on buildings before services is in line with the priorities that residents support.”

An extension to the Badminton Road office for a council chamber is also proposed. A consultation on the scheme will open on February 22.

The council has made £56million of savings this year and must find an additional £23million in the next financial year following a drastic reduction in government funding.

The authority’s budget will be set on February 17 with Council Tax expected to increase by 3.99 per cent, leaving the annual Band D property with a bill of £1,295.