An investment of £40 million from the money raised has enabled the Council to carry out a major refurbishment programme at Ashburton Court, a building constructed in the 1950s and in danger of being condemned.

Rather than spend £70 million to build completely new offices out of town and allowing Ashburton Courtto be demolished, Conservatives did their sums and came to the right conclusion that it made good sense to spend £40 million refurbishing the building and modernising the facilities.

The offices will now hold twice the number of staff on the same footprint and this of course means that there is a benefit in carbon savings of great importance in the drive to make buildings and facilities greener.

The government has recognised the project as "Best Practise", an example of what can be achieved.

To accommodate the extra staff, open plan offices have been designed within the £40 million budget and £1.2 million invested in partitions and new furniture. The old furniture has not gone to waste, being transferred to other premises.

A new completely new water system has been installed at a cost of £12,000 including the electrics. Chegwyn would have you believe that this was money spent just on taps. (gold plated no doubt)

Ashburton Court will be completed on time and within budget. There will be no impact on the council tax at all because of Conservative good management and expertise.