Conservatives have criticised council leaders for spending a further £20,000 on refurbishing committee rooms after a revamp of the debating chamber cost nearly £500,000.

The Lib Dem/Labour/Green coalition at West Oxfordshire District Council is refurbishing two committee rooms at its Woodgreen offices in Witney.

Last year West Oxfordshire District Council spent £457,000 refitting the council chamber and turning it into a community space.

The Conservative group at the council branded it a "waste of money on another pet project". 

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A written question to Cllr Alaric Smith, executive member for finance, revealed that the council is spending £20,726 on redecorating the council committee rooms which includes upgrades to LED lighting, a new carpet, blinds and painting of the walls.

Oxford Mail: Council chamber after refurb

The costs are to replace ceilings and upgrade lighting to LED, decorating walls and woodwork and new carpet and blinds.

The upgrade of the lighting to LEDs, is aligned with the council’s drive to reduce its overall carbon footprint.

Due to the age of the existing ceiling, replacement tiles are no longer available to fit the existing grid so as part of the lighting upgrade a new ceiling will have to be installed, Mr Smith explained.

In a follow-up question Cllr Thomas Ashby asked: "Now that we have spent £500,000 on this Chamber, and £21,000 downstairs, will there be any other refurbishments in the next 12 months?"

Mr Smith replied: "There are other projects that we will look at potentially as we go through the asset strategy.

"We will be looking at later in the year, because basically what we are trying to do is review all of our assets to see what needs to be done with each of them, and we will put forward proposals in due course where they make sense."

Conservative Group Leader, Cllr Michele Mead, said: "When will this constant spend of taxpayers money end!

"We have residents complaining about fly-tipping and shops closing their doors on our High Street and the coalition are focused on painting the walls of the council building.

Oxford Mail: WODC council chamber before the refit

"They need to stop wasting money and focus on improving the services that our residents are paying their council tax for."

Councillor Andy Graham, leader of the council, has said the work is "an investment for the community and the council chamber facility will become a community space that local people and organisations will be able to use like never before.

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"That could include events like conferences, meetings, special occasions or celebrations."

The council secured a government grant of £250,000 for new technology in the council chamber and committee rooms which he said "will allow residents to watch council meetings online, making the council more transparent and hopefully increase engagement with local democracy".

He said the works are part of a wider project to make better use of council buildings, which is expected to bring in up to £150,000 a year.