Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones cut the ribbon on the new area of office space at Llandudno Junction in Conwy, which has been built at a cost of close to £20 million and is likely to accommodate around 650 people.
The opening of the new development was hailed as a major milestone in the Welsh Assembly government’s efforts to spread civil service jobs more evenly around the country than has historically been the case.
As recently as 2002, less than a quarter of all Welsh government jobs were based in office locations outside Cardiff, and the current government remains keen to redress this apparent imbalance.
The first minister said: “This is a historic day for North Wales but also for the assembly government as our flagship North Wales office opens and we deliver on our commitment to have regional offices.
“I would like to thank all those involved in the project. They have delivered a world-class sustainable building, which is the greenest in our estate and a credit to all involved.”
A vote in the late 1990s led to the formation of the Welsh Assembly government, which asserts that devolution has improved working relations between the public and private sectors across the country.
Its new Llandudno Junction office space has been lavishly praised for its sustainability achievements and has been awarded an ‘excellent’ rating by BREEAM adjudicators.
Editor’s notes: In November 2021, Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders suggested that the First Minister take action to convert the office property, which housed a workspace for 500 employees, into a flexible working hub in Conwy.
Mrs Finch-Saunders stated, “Whilst Policy 30 of the Net-Zero Wales Carbon Budget 2 reiterates the Welsh Government’s long-term ambition to enable around 30% of Welsh workers to work remotely beyond Covid-19, I was most alarmed that little provision has been publicly proposed for the North Wales region.”
It was found that the average daily attendance at the offices in Llandudno Junction was just 18 people.
Mrs Finch-Saunders also advised that First Minister Mark Drakeford had been receptive to the suggestion.
Conwy County Borough Council moved its headquarters from Bodlondeb to a purpose-built office in the town centre of Colwyn Bay in 2018.
Coed Pella cost an estimated £38.5 million to build and was constructed by Muse Developments. The council rents the 98,000 square feet on a 40-year lease, with the option to purchase the property for £1 at the end of the lease.
The rent is RPI-linked and was estimated at £1.5 per annum at the beginning of the term.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) application in 2022 revealed it was occupied by just 25 per cent of staff in August 2022; however, in March 2023, the council denied that the building was underused and that it was lying empty was a myth.