New multi-million pound council headquarters in Telford will be open by 2013 if planners give the scheme the green light, it was revealed today.

The new Civic Offices are set to form part of Telford & Wrekin Council’s £250 million transformation of Southwater. The current office block will be bulldozed to make way for an Asda store.

Council chiefs are set to move to a proposed five-storey building in Southwater if planners approve the scheme early next year.

Russell Griffin, spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council, said it is hoped the new headquarters will include a restaurant and retail space.

“The new Civic Offices will be the centrepiece to the Southwater area which will be transformed over the next few years to provide a new Main Street that will connect with the Town Park, the International Trade Centre and Southwater Square and provide a range of commercial, leisure and entertainment facilities,” said Mr Griffin.

“A new waterfront feature will be created as part of the Civic Offices that will provide an enhanced Southwater Lake.”

The larger scheme for Southwater involves shops, bars, cafes, two hotels, a new learning and media centre and hundreds of homes.

There will also be two new squares built at either end of the new Main Street, which will provide access to the Civic Offices and an entertainment area.

Mr Griffin added: “The new office complex will be built to very exacting environmental and sustainability standards through incorporating low and zero carbon technologies and renewable energy generating sources.”

“The council is confident that the offices will reduce carbon emissions by more than 10 per cent.”

A decision on the plans will now be made by the council’s planning committee by the end of January.

Telford & Wrekin Council’s plans board last week approved a proposal to start clearing the Southwater site.

By Jason Lavan