Lichfield District Council House is re-opening its doors to the public after nearly three years of closure following the Covid lockdown.
From Monday 27th June the public can once again book face-to-face appointments with council staff where they are needed.
Says Councillor Doug Pullen, Leader of Lichfield District Council: “We’re very pleased to welcome residents back into our offices. We know Covid was a challenging time for everyone but it did force us to develop better online, self-service and over the phone solutions.
“Our digital solutions are available 24 hours a day and we’re improving the services available over the phone. However, we know some people need a more personal service, or have complex support needs and for those individuals, we want our new face-to-face offer to be friendly and welcoming. So, we have taken the time to give our front door a new look and feel, to make it a more pleasant place to work and visit.
“We want our offices to become a real community hub and meeting place, and I’m thrilled to say we have some new attractions and partner agencies who will be joining us and providing expanded services through our offices. I’d encourage you to pop in and take a look.
“We are delighted we have been able to work with the much-respected café and catering group Melbourne who will be opening Penni Uni, a vibrant café in the building offering food and drink all day to visitors and staff right on our doorstep.”
Deborah Pease of Melbourne shared: “”When we began discussions with LDC around the potential for opening a cafe site in the LDC offices we were particularly taken with the enthusiasm of the team to support community programmes and deliver services above and beyond the traditional. After discussing with the team around their aspirations we determined that Penni Uni (based on Penny University from the original coffee houses) would be a great nod to the goal of supporting the community that councils ultimately are there to do. We have since met with a few of the staff at LDC and have been impressed with their enthusiasm for supporting local businesses and communities and have started to build a long list of events and support programmes we want to initiate. We will be gently opening on the 27th June but bear with us as we get used to our new surroundings and then rapidly picking up speed in July and we look forward to welcoming a wide range of people to our new café.”
Lichfield District Council is also considering other options for sharing the space available within the building to both generate income and to create a strong community destination in the city centre. More details of these will be released soon.
The council offices will be manned 09:00 – 17:00 every weekday and appointments can be made by calling into the offices, emailing at enquiries@lichfielddc.gov.uk or ringing the Customer Support Team on 01543 308000.
Penni Uni café will open from 08:00 until 16:00 every weekday.