Bid to stop council’s ‘ill-concieved’ move to Skelmersdale ‘which would waste millions’
Oposition councillors say the planned council relocation to a building soon to be vacacted by a branch of the Co-op bank would waste millions of pounds
Last updated 20th May 2026
An ‘ill-conceived £10m plan’ to close a town hall in Ormskirk and move staff to a Skelmersdale office, must be scrapped, councillors claim.
Oposition councillors say the planned council relocation to a building soon to be vacacted by a branch of the Co-op bank would waste millions of pounds while local swimming pools, parks and a gallery need investment.
They also believe Skelmersdale is the wrong place for any new council HQ because West Lancashire is likely to merge with Chorley, South Ribble and possibly Preston in 2028.
Our West Lancashire (OWL) and Conservative councillors want to scrap the strategy backed by Labour councillors earlier this year to move staff from the current Ormskirk Derby Street base to Delf House in Skelmersdale. Delf House is council owned but leased to the Co-op Bank until later this year.
Now, some councillors have put forward a motion to the council this week, which is likely to be discussed behind closed doors because of confidential information.
Speaking ahead of that, OWL’s Adrian Owens, a motion supporter said: “During the local election, residents were aghast that Labour were proposing to borrow more than £10m at a time of record borrowing costs to demolish the council’s Ormskirk offices and move staff to Skelmersdale.
“Many said it was a shame that so much money was to be borrowed and spent on offices for staff – while investment in our swimming pools was starved over many years, eventually leading to Labour’s attempt to close them.
“An expensive refurbishment of Delf House would leave two large floors vacant – when increased home working has seen the bottom fall out of the office property market. The financial assumptions on the rental to be achieved on these are exaggerated and, in one case, exceeded an independent valuers’ figure. In any case, the proposal is ill-conceived because the council itself is set to be abolished in 23 months.
“OWL would scrap this vanity project and invest instead in the council’s public buildings and parks including our swimming pools and Chapel Gallery.”
Conservatives are backing the motion too and Tory group leader David Whittington said: “This is likely to be held in private so there are some details I can’t talk about publicly. However, I can make general points.
“We have concerns about moving staff to Skelmersdale, which will be right at the edge of any new authority area combining West Lancashire, Chorley and South Ribble. We don’t see it as a viable long-term location for a major council office.
“Also Delf House is 50 years old, despite having a facelift and work done inside in the past 10 years. Fifteen years ago, the council had a report about what might happen if the Co-op moved out. The recommendation then was that the building should be knocked down, if the Co-op went. So we need to investigate all options now.
“There might be another tenant interested. It might be viable for apartments. But we need to explore these rather than just plonk council staff there – and then move them again in a few years under a new authority. That would waste a lot of money.
“We also oppose vacating Ormskirk. There is no other suitable council space in Ormskirk and we want to keep the offices at present.
“The new unitary authority will make decisions about where staff are based in the future. We should leave it them to decide about Derby Street. There is plenty of office space there. So there might be options to use it under a new authority.”
In the new motion, councillors want to scap plans to invest in Delf House and seek contractors to carry out the work. Instead, they want external consultants not involved with Delf House or the council’s strategy to give recommendations. They also want to stop any part of Delf House being used by the council for anything except housing.
In the past, some new homes have been built on land next to the council’s Ormskirk HQ car park.