Gwynedd Council’s cabinet has approved a £83,000 spend to improve its customer service facilities in Penrhyndeudraeth.
Decision makers unanimously approved the plan to revamp and make better use of the building, mainly used as a call centre, at the Eryri Business Park.
The unit is currently used for the authority’s Galw Gwynedd service as well as hosting training and meeting rooms, while hiring out of part of the building to a Bupa dentist.
But while there were once 25 Galw Gwynedd workers based there, even before the pandemic flexible working and the deployment of staff to other Siop Gwynedd centres had seen numbers fall by more than half.
The report noted that officers had seen “increasing demand for a front door to council services in the area,” with finance chiefs backing the one-time spend via the long established Transformation Fund.
The plan, members were told, will also see part of the building opened up to staff from the Adult, Health and Wellbeing Department and other NHS services after they expressed a wish for offices within a reasonable distance of Tremadog’s Ysbyty Alltwen.
Cllr Nia Jeffreys, the cabinet member for Corporate Support, said: “Over recent years, we have seen an increase in demand for face-to-face services in this part of the county.
“With Siop Gwynedd Pwllheli 16 miles away and a journey of 22 miles to Dolgellau, there’s an obvious geographical gap in the provision for people in this area.
“This investment will allow us to close that gap by providing a new ‘front door’ to Council Services while making better use of the building, for the benefit of the people of Gwynedd.”
The local member for Penrhyndeudraeth who also sits on the cabinet, Cllr Gareth Thomas, also welcomed the move.
Responding to the report, he noted, “It is clear that the Covid pandemic has meant that the council will have to reconsider its arrangements for contact with residents, and what is proposed in the report is sensible and makes better use of the space in the building.
“Having the Siop Gwynedd facility is also going to be of benefit to local people as they would be able to get face-to-face help with any problem in the future.”
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