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Town hall plans will boost forces job club (From Oxford Mail)
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Town hall plans will boost forces job club
2:10pm Monday 6th August 2012 in News
By Tom Jennings, covering Witney and West Oxfordshire. Call me on 01865 425403
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Adrian Coomber outside Carterton town hall
COUNCIL chiefs hope to extend Carterton’s town hall to expand a job club for the families of RAF servicemen.
Thousands of families are expected to move to the area after RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire closed last year and troops moved to RAF Brize Norton .
Carterton Town Council hopes to expand the fortnightly job club.
The expansion of the Alvescot Road town hall will also create a reception area and improve disabled access.
Currently members of the public have to go upstairs to see town council staff.
The plans, which have been submitted to West Oxfordshire District Council , will be partly funded with a £35,000 military community covenant grant.
The job club expansion will include new computer terminals where people will be able to search for jobs.
Work has not yet gone out to tender but is expected to cost tens of thousands of pounds.
Carterton mayor Adrian Coomber said: “With the job club and all the extras going on at the town hall we needed more space.
“The town hall is a bit strange at the moment. When you go in the front door you have to go up stairs before you see the first member of staff.
You would expect when you walk into the town hall there will be someone there to give you what you want, but we have not got that at the moment. With this development, straight away they will be faced with someone who can help.”
The project will also create a new meeting room and a small shop, which will be let out to generate income for the council.
Town clerk Janet Eustace said: “There are two elements to the project, firstly to create a downstairs reception area and also to provide new access terminals.
“We hope the terminals will allow people to access district and county council services from the town hall and also look for jobs.
“The job club element has been funded by the community covenant in response to the fact we have a number of service personnel and their families coming in.”
If planning permission is granted, the work will go out to tender straight away and the extension could be built by January or February next year.
