New £32m York council HQ gets go-ahead
Plans for City of York Council's new £32m headquarters have been approved by the government.
The West Offices building on Station Rise is being refurbished and the council expects to move in by 2013.
The project was approved by council planners in June but required listed building consent, which has now been granted by the government.
The council said the move to a more central location would allow it to make "significant" savings.
It will reduce the number of council offices from 16 to four.
Kersten England, the council's chief executive, said: "The move will enable us to provide improved customer services as well as long-term savings and a more sustainable way of working."
West Offices was chosen for the new headquarters because it had "good sustainable transport links" and the building had "historic importance" and an "attractive setting", the council said.
The building was York's railway station from 1841 until 1877, when the current railway station on Station Road opened.
The West Offices building has been used as offices since 1877.