A YEAR on from the demonstrations staged to save the "Secret Garden" new plans have been submitted by Salisbury District Council for the refurbishment and extension of its Bourne Hill offices.

The fiercely fought campaign to halt an original full-blown redevelopment of the offices - a £16m scheme that would have spilled over into the Secret Garden - culminated in the defeat of the Tory administration at last May's elections.

Now the current combined Liberal Democrat and Labour administration is seeking planning permission and listed building consent for a revised scheme, including a smaller extension to the offices that allows the garden to be retained.. But the price tag has now leapt to £18.9m The move follows seven months of public consultation and design work after the council's decision to review the original scheme.

Salisbury District Council's portfolio holder for finance, Cllr Andrew Roberts, said: "We promised that we would listen to the concerns expressed by the local community and this new scheme has been designed to take into account local people's views. I am particularly pleased that in response to views expressed the Secret Garden will not only be saved but it will also be improved with many of its original features reinstated."

Last summer, more than 10,000 people responded to a survey on the Bourne Hill project with 53% saying the original scheme should be modified.

Local residents, councillors and interest groups were also invited to a series of consultation workshops during January 2008.

The first workshop looked at the overall scheme and the other workshops focused on defining the design brief for the Secret Garden.

A full report on the workshops has been included as part of the new applications submissions.

The Bourne Hill scheme will provide much needed public office space, a new register office and areas for community use.

The new extension to the building has been designed to be environmentally friendly and will include sustainable features such as a green and a brown roof to encourage ecological diversity, rainwater harvesting, natural ventilation, and daylight and lighting control.

An extensive tree planning and ecological strategy has been drawn up to include proposals for the planting of 48 semi-mature native trees and tree protection zones for existing trees. Bat and bird boxes have already been installed in the surrounding parkland.

A decision on the planning application is expected by July 2008, and if approved construction is likely to start in late summer 2008. It is hoped the new building will be open for business at the beginning of 2010.

The plans can be inspected now at the council's planning offices at Wyndham Road and will also be available to view at www.salisbury.gov.uk from midday Monday 25 February.