The District Council of Yankalilla will close its Charles Street offices for at least three months to replace the heating, cooling, and ventilation systems.

The council will shift its front of house operations to the Fleurieu Coast Visitor Centre on Main South Road from Thursday 28 April, while the construction works take place.

On its website the council says that safety of the visiting public and its team is paramount, and it could not provide the necessary level of safety as the civic centre became a construction zone.

“Council’s highest priority during this period is to ensure that the community still has access to council staff, services, and information, including a place where the community can physically walk in and have face-to-face interaction. 

“The Visitor Centre will become a one-stop shop for all council services, including our Customer Service, Library, Transport, and Visitor Services.”

Council meetings will go on a road trip, described as a ‘Town Hall Tour’, for which the schedule and locations are yet to be released.

“This is great timing with our Local Government elections set for November this year, we encourage people who may consider nominating to become an Elected Member to attend a council meeting, coming to a town hall near you to find out what’s involved.”

The temporary council office at the Fleurieu Coast Visitor Centre will operate from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm until at least the end of July.

Council services remain unchanged, but payments will only be accepted via EFTPOS during this time.

A condition assessment report in January 2019 recommended replacing the air conditioning system at the council offices at an estimated cost of $200,000.

The funding was was not included in the next budget and the delay in addressing the problem has blown out the cost to $303,450.

As the upgrade was considered to be a major project a risk assessment was required, which led to the recommendation that the civic centre be closed during the construction works.

At its March meeting the council agreed that it would be an unacceptable health and safety risk to try to keep operating while works took place.