Council to close Westbury area office

Clare County Council will close the Westbury Area Office in southeast Clare when the present lease expires next month. The closure will not result in any job losses as staff working in Westbury will be redeployed to other positions in the council.

The decision not to renew the lease follows an examination of the level of activities at the Area Office which has identified that in 2015 the majority of the contacts, either through personal callers or telephone calls, were in relation to motor tax transactions and primarily to renew motor tax online.

Excluding motor tax, a total of 400 contacts were made with the office throughout 2015. This equates to less than 10 contacts per week.

The council said it is “conscious that with advances in phone technology in particular, access to online facilities is now much greater than when online access facilities were initiated at the office. An increasing number of people are renewing motor tax on-line in Clare using their own online access and this reflects what is happening throughout the country. It should also be noted that motor tax renewals can also be dealt with by post though the council’s head office.”

Having regard to the low levels of activity, the council says it “cannot justify” retaining the office into the future.

The Westbury Office is situated in the Shannon Municipal District and that Municipal District will continue to be served by the office at the Town Hall in Shannon.