Archived press release

Date Published: 07/03/07

The new Buckingham Centre has proved highly popular with local residents in the two months it has been running – and on Thursday 8 March at 10.30am, a launch ceremony will declare the Verney Close customer information centre officially open ...

The new Buckingham Centre has proved highly popular with local residents in the two months it has been running – and on Thursday 8 March at 10.30am, a launch ceremony will declare the Verney Close customer information centre officially open for business.

Representatives from the county, district and Buckingham town councils will be attending the opening ceremony, along with other partner agencies, including the Learning Skills Council, which funded the adult learning centre.

David Shakespeare, Leader of Buckinghamshire County Council, and Councillor Pam Pearce, Cabinet Member for Community Matters at AVDC, will open proceedings before handing over the official ribbon-cutting duty to regular users of the centre, reflecting the customer-based nature of this successful venture.

Based in the heart of the town, the centre houses a refurbished library, a purpose-built adult learning centre, offering a variety of courses in four state-of-the-art classrooms, and a customer services point, run jointly by Buckinghamshire County and Aylesbury Vale District councils.

The Buckingham Centre is the first joint frontline customer service of its kind in Buckinghamshire. The public has been quick to embrace this new way of working.  In its first two months the centre has dealt with more than 5,000 enquiries and transactions.

The library has attracted 50 new members and loaned over 3000 more items than January and February last year. This term's adult learning courses, including IT, childcare and basic literacy, were all fully booked.

Councillor David Shakespeare, Leader of Buckinghamshire County Council, said: “The Buckingham Centre is a fantastic new facility. It brings services from both county and district councils under one roof and makes life much easier for local people.”

Councillor Pam Pearce, AVDC Cabinet Member for Community Matters, said: “At the Buckingham Centre, residents are able to have any queries about council services dealt with face-to-face by an advisor, who will find the answers for you. The district and county councils provide a wide range of services, but we appreciate it is sometimes difficult to identify which services you could benefit from and how to access them.

“Our customer service advisors will try to make your contact with the district and county councils as easy as possible. The very fact that advisers are answering hundreds of enquiries each week here shows how vital the service is for residents living in Buckingham.”