Kier has started work on a building programme that will create a new office complex for Waveney District Council and Suffolk County Council in Lowestoft.

The new building on Riverside Road will reduce energy and maintenance costs for the two councils and is part of a wider accommodation programme, which will also bring staff from both councils together at a redeveloped customer service centre in the heart of the town.

Kier Construction director Dennis Cotton joined Suffolk County Council leader Mark Bee and Waveney District Council leader Colin Law for a ceremony on 19 February to formally break the ground.

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Construction work will take just over a year before a handover in March 2015 ahead of occupation. The build involves the construction of a brand new two and three-storey building, complete with conference rooms and public café on the ground floor, workstation areas to the upper floors and an external terrace area.

Vacating old, unfit and inefficient buildings dotted around Lowestoft will reduce the overall cost to taxpayers by up to £3m across the next 10 years and release land for development and regeneration.

Cllr Colin Law, leader of Waveney District Council, said: "The outline cost of this programme will be easily covered by the reduction in maintenance and energy bills for the two councils and I am absolutely delighted that a scheme that will ultimately save taxpayers money is now under way."

(CD/MH)