OPEN-plan office space for 107 staff, car parking for 109 vehicles and a spacious reception area are all included in West Somerset Council's long- awaited new office plans. Pick Everard, on behalf of developers Mansell, have submitted an application for full planning permission to build a two and a half-storey office complex on the existing car park off Killick Way in Williton. The new building would be sited opposite the existing public toilet block with visitors welcomed into a modern reception area, complete with 'social area' featuring a number of tables and chairs. The ground floor would also include a new council chamber, a meeting room, a staff room, pantry, showers and open plan office space for 36 people. The first floor would have three open plan office areas for 28, 13 and 22 people and further meeting and project rooms, while a mezzanine floor above would boast four spacious offices for the authority's corporate directors. Outside, the west car park, which would be created at the front of the site where the council's existing offices currently stand, would have 49 car parking spaces, a south car park behind the public toilets would have 38 spaces and the east car park at the back of the new office complex would have space for 22 cars. A parking survey has already shown that parking around the new offices is likely to outstrip supply, with experts predicting a shortfall of around 20 spaces. The survey revealed current demand for spaces was running at a maximum of 93 out of an available 126 spaces. The redevelopment would see the number of spaces reduced to 109, although demand for parking was likely to increase to 127 when the council's existing Minehead-based employees relocated to the Williton site. As a result, the council is being encouraged to draw up its own travel plan to encourage staff to car share or either walk, cycle or take the bus to work. The authority's existing reception block, council chamber and offices would be demolished, along with the technical and planning buildings, Red Cross and 'Fish and Cheese' buildings to make way for the new development. In their outline planning application submitted last summer, architects Kendall Kingscott, of Exeter, said the development would have "only a limited impact" on surrounding properties. A business case which accompanied the application said the new development would enable the council to provide better service to customers, would reduce building running costs and travelling costs between Williton and Minehead and improve staff facilities, staff recruitment, retention and morale and lead to an enhanced reputation for the authority. The application stated: "The council currently operates eight buildings on two sites nine miles apart. "The few purpose-built council buildings date from both the 30/40s and 60/70s when the roles, forms and functions of local government were fundamentally different from today. "The present buildings do not match the needs of a modern customer focused authority." The report said the current buildings were "positively hindering" modern working methods and the existing reception area was deemed to be "customer unfriendly". It continued: "The present accommodation is in dire need of refurbishment and modernisation. "The poor type and quality of the present accommodation has an obvious impact on staff morale. "The state of the premises has an undoubted impact on how others perceive us. "A council which operates in unkempt and unsuitable buildings in poor conditions sends out a clear and negative message to those who observe, regulate and deal with us."