New One Stop Shop for Belle Vale - opens May 2009 (Garston and Halewood Liberal Democrats)

Garston and Halewood Liberal Democrats <info@garstonld.org.uk>

New One Stop Shop for Belle Vale - opens May 2009

December 10, 2008 12:00 AM

Belle Vale residents are getting a brand new, state-of-the-art One Stop Shop in the heart of the community.

The existing Belle Vale One Stop Shop closes on Friday 12 December to make way for the new Gateacre Comprehensive School, part of the city's Building Schools for the Future programme.

Work will begin in January on a new One Stop Shop for the community, which is due to open in May 2009.

Situated at the former Probation Office at Belle Vale District Centre, on Childwall Valley Road the new One Stop Shop will provide all council services under one roof, from benefits to council tax and housing to education awards. Highly trained staff will use the latest technology to cut waiting times and improve customer service in modern, comfortable surroundings.

Offering customers more modern and improved facilities, including better access for disabled people, the new One Stop Shop will, for the first time, house Jobs, Education and Training (JET) Services, giving local people even more reason to drop in.

The new One Stop Shop will also be situated in close proximity to Belle Vale Library.

Assistant Executive Member for Corporate Performance, Peter Allen, said: "Belle Vale One Stop Shop has to close to make way for the new Gateacre School. We want to keep disruption to a minimum and complete work as quickly as possible on a fantastic new One Stop Shop for the area.

"The new Shop is in an ideal location, just a few hundred yards from the existing one, as part of our commitment to making sure customers can get access to all the council services they need, in a convenient, familiar location.

"We would ask customers to bear with us while we complete work on the new facility. They can look forward to an even better, more modern facility in the very near future."

The council has written to community groups in the area to promote the neighbouring One Stop Shops in Wavertree, Garston, Knotty Ash and Old Swan, while the work on the new Belle Vale One Stop Shop is being carried out. Customers can also get advice and information about all council services by calling the council's contact centre, Liverpool Direct, 24 hours a day, seven days a week or by logging-on to www.liverpool.gov.uk.

Staff from Belle Vale One Stop Shop will be relocated to other One Stop Shops throughout the city during the works, before taking up their posts again at the new Belle Vale Shop in May 2009.