The £7m, 43,500 sq ft Westfields office development in Sandbach, home to Congleton Borough Council, is one of only seven developments in Cheshire to be named as a contender for one of the North West's most prestigious property awards, dubbed the 'OSCARS'.

The building has been entered into the Community Benefit category of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) North West Awards, which has received a record number of entries this year with almost 100 schemes competing for honours.

Simon Kennish, Congleton Borough Councils Corporate Programmes Manager, and a Chartered Surveyor, who nominated the Westfields scheme said: "We felt that the Westfields scheme met all the criteria for the Community Benefit category of the awards, and are pleased to have entered this landmark local scheme into the RICS Awards. In preparing the application pack, we were delighted by the support from the community and our strategic partners with such positive feedback received on the project and the final building."

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The whole building is accessible, which has opened up all the council's public meetings to the local community. Since Westfields opened in 2007, there have been many occasions of community involvement. Such as July 2007, the council invited pupils from Excalibur Primary School in Alsager into the new One Stop Shop. The pupils spent the day making and handing out 'Morsbags', a green alternative to the carrier bag, discussing the associated issues.

The RICS awards have been developed to recognise the best new projects in the built and natural environment. They celebrate every aspect of rural and urban regeneration and reward those organisations and individuals developing and conserving the environment. Their aim is to promote best practice and highlight some of the most innovative and environmentally sensitive built projects in the region.

(CD/JM)