The planning board approved planning consent for the construction of the new £3 million-plus facility, which will include the re-provisioning of the library and community archives from Brookwood as well as enhancing the current hall facilities through a full refurbishment, at its meeting on Tuesday.

The Community Hub, which will bring together a range of council, library, leisure and cultural services under one roof, will also contain new public meeting rooms and social work facilities, new public toilets as well as an entire upgrade of the current accommodation.

A customer services area will deliver a new, ‘one stop shop’ approach to customer services to make it easier for residents to access and get information about a variety of different council services and make payments for them in just one visit.

Work on the new Community Hub, which is being built in partnership with the council’s development partner hub West Scotland, is anticipated to start in early 2016.

Council leader Rhondda Geekie said: “The development of the Community Hub is exciting news for Bearsden and will see major investment in the town centre. It reinforces our commitment to the area by providing vital public services at a local level.

“The network of community hubs continues to be a key aspect of the council’s transformation programme to continue to deliver customer services locally throughout East Dunbartonshire. They are at the heart of supporting town centre regeneration as well as delivering efficiencies and savings in our wider operating model.

“This innovative way of delivering services more efficiently to our residents will bring together a wide range of services under one roof including Council Tax, benefits, licensing, housing, general council enquiries, library services, leisure services, arts and events.

“The development of the new facility will see over £3m of investment by the council within Bearsden and will provide everyone in Bearsden with a facility they will be proud of. This is in line with the council’s policy of reducing the number of buildings we use while investing in the remaining assets. We will work closely with hub West Scotland, the design team and the contractor, to bring this new community facility design to fruition.”

Residents had the chance to find out more and offer their feedback and comments on the plans for the new facility at information sessions held in Bearsden Burgh Hall in December 2014, March 2015 and August 2015.

Feedback from these events were integrated into the building where appropriate and helped play an important part in informing the new Hub design.

The network of community hubs, including Bearsden, is a key aspect of the council’s programme to continue to deliver customer services locally throughout East Dunbartonshire. The first Hub facility was opened at the William Patrick Library building in Kirkintilloch in August 2012 and has been a huge success with increased visitor numbers since its introduction.