April date spiked to allow final preparations to take place

Brent’s much championed civic centre has been hit with a delay meaning staff will not be able to move in as early as first thought.

Staff were initially supposed to move into the £100m centre this April and the building was expected to be fully operational by summer.

However, a statement posted on the council’s internal intranet yesterday said the final preparations were being made to the building in Engineers Way meaning a move would not take place in April.

It adds: “We now need to ensure that all of the necessary testing of the systems in the new building is completed to our satisfaction and to allow ample time for this we have adjusted our move dates.”

It goes on to say that no move will take place in April and that they still aim to be fully operational by the summer.

It is not yet known how much the delay could cost or whether any departments will have to renew a temporary lease on their current base.

The centre, which will be the greenest building in the UK, will have office space for 2,000 members of staff and will host community events and festivals as well as weddings.

A spokesman for Brent Council said: “The scale of the move has always meant that it would be staggered over a period of time and this is still the case with the move being complete in the summer of 2013.

“We are on track to achieve this.”