WORK has started on building new offices in Usk for Monmouthshire council, with staff set to move in by next March.

Planning permission was given in September for the council to redevelop the site on the Coleg Gwent campus in Usk.

The 2,500-square metre building will be known as the Democratic Centre, complete with a council chamber.

This £8 million building will replace County Hall in Cwmbran, which had been the council’s home since 1996. Staff have now left County Hall and relocated to Magor, Raglan and Abergavenny until the opening of the new headquarters.

Welsh construction firm Willmott Dixon has been awarded the contract for the building, which will be designed to achieve a sustainable BREEAM rating – a measurement for green buildings – of excellent.

This will mean the use of biomass boilers, recycled water tanks and solar photo voltaic panels on the roof.