South Norfolk: The Octagon in Diss will be opening on Monday 17th October

A place where residents can speak to a member of staff who will; help resolve their queries online, put residents in touch with relevant services via the telephone or book a face to face meeting.

South Norfolk Cabinet member, Graham Minshull said:

“Since reopening South Norfolk Council’s offices following COVID 19, the average number of residents visiting us has fallen to just 10 per day. The lessons we learnt and technological progress made during the pandemic has resulted in the majority of our services being delivered online or out in the community.”

From 4th November, South Norfolk House will no longer be staffed and South Norfolk Council will be temporarily based in Thorpe Lodge as both Councils get ready for the move to the Horizon Centre on Broadland Business Park.

The Horizon Centre is as close or closer for 2/3 of South Norfolk residents and staff, with vastly improved public transport links. The option to use public transport will help residents that want to visit the Council and will cut down on the number of car journeys made by staff, helping the environment.

The significant amount of money saved, both in capital and revenue expenditure, due to the much lower running and maintenance costs of having one building rather than two, can be reinvested to improve the services that really matter to residents, help keep Council Tax low and allow South Norfolk Council to freeze council tax for next year - at a time when all other bills will be rising.