Ordnance Survey secures planning approval for new head office

Plans to build a new Ordnance Survey head office within the Southampton area have taken a huge step forward.

In a unanimous vote, members of Test Valley Borough Council’s Planning Committee last night recommended approval of plans for a new corporate head office at Adanac Park alongside the M271 gateway to the city.

The decision paves the way for a formal granting of planning permission subject to conditions and completion of legal agreements.

It means that more than 1,000 Ordnance Survey staff are on course to move to a modern, energy-efficient building about a mile from their current head office in Romsey Road. Building work is expected to begin as early as this summer, with a completion date by the end of 2009.

“Our vision of a building fit for a world-class, 21st century mapping organisation is today much closer,” says Vanessa Lawrence CB, Ordnance Survey’s Director General and Chief Executive.

“This decision means we can modernise our working conditions, something that is essential for our future. We are delighted that the new Ordnance Survey building will be at a major gateway to the city which has been our home since 1841. This is great news for our staff, most of whom live within the Southampton area.”

Ordnance Survey’s strong links with Southampton go back to when it moved from its first home in the Tower of London. Before relocating to Romsey Road in the 1960s, the head office was in the centre of Southampton.

The proposed building at Adanac Park offers considerable advantages over the current office, which was designed when business needs and technology were very different to today.

Discussions are progressing with Southampton City Council on plans currently registered with them to redevelop Romsey Road for a mix of new business and employment initiatives alongside new housing. A decision is expected in the spring.

The detailed building plans for the Ordnance Survey plot at Adanac Park were part of a successful “hybrid” application put forward with the owners of the rest of the site, the Barker Mills Trust. This involves outline proposals aimed at developing four other plots for future occupiers across the whole 74-acre site.
Ordnance Survey is Great Britain’s national mapping agency, providing the most accurate and up-to-date geographic data, relied on by government, business and individuals.
Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2008