Monmouthshire Chairman, Councillor Brian Hood MBE recently brought nearly forty years of history to a close at Cwmbran's County Hall when he lowered the county council flag for the final time.

County Hall was opened in the summer of 1974 and served as the headquarters of Gwent County Council. Following local government reorganisation in 1996 the building was shared by Monmouthshire County Council and Torfaen County Borough Council.

Since the closure of County Hall, Monmouthshire's staff have relocated to Magor, Raglan and Abergavenny with the majority of council meetings taking place in Monmouth's Shire Hall.

Next year, new headquarters in Usk will open and both councillors and officers based there will apply the innovative ways of working that the council has adopted in its current offices – these include a ratio of two people to one desk and the imaginative use of technology to benefit residents and businesses in Monmouthshire.

Councillor Hood remarked: "Lowering this flag reminds me of Shakespeare's line Parting is such sweet sorrow. But here the sweet is that everyone looks forward to better working conditions and we are so much more efficient, while the sorrow extends to nostalgic memories gathered over nearly forty years"

The final closure of County Hall comes as

leading Welsh construction firm, Willmott Dixon has been awarded the contract to build new office facilities for Monmouthshire County Council.

The contract will allow for the construction of a new 2,500sq m Democratic Centre for staff at Monmouthshire County Council, including a council chamber, offices for the council's chief executive and facilities open for public access.

Situated on the Coleg Gwent campus in Usk, the project has involved collaboration between Monmouthshire County Council and Coleg Gwent in order to ensure that upon completion, both the college and the council will be able to operate effectively and in harmony from one location.

The new facilities will be designed to achieve a sustainable BREEAM rating of excellent and will promote sustainability in a number of ways including the use of biomass boilers, recycled water tanks and photo voltaic on the roof of the offices.

Neal Stephens, managing director of Willmott Dixon in Wales, said: "This is a fantastic project for Willmott Dixon to be a part of, and one which marks the continuation of a positive relationship we formed with Monmouthshire County Council more than 12 years ago.

"There were a number of challenging factors which had to be taken into consideration during the planning stages of the project. We have worked closely with Monmouthshire County Council as well as Coleg Gwent to produce innovative solutions to these challenges and to ensure that our vision for the site successfully meets the needs of all parties."

Work on site has now begun, with the aim of Monmouthshire Council being able to move into their new offices by March 2013.

The project was designed by architects Powell Dobson. Willmott Dixon's extensive portfolio of work on behalf of Monmouthshire County Council has included most recently the construction of a new learning plaza at Castle Park Primary School in Caldicot.