BRISTOL’S councillors have earned themselves a reputation for political bickering in the past which has seen them more interested in scoring points than putting the city first.

Now Bristol’s mayor George Ferguson has come up with his own solution to make debates in the council chamber “less confrontational” – although he realises he would never be allowed to go ahead with his idea.

Instead of the political parties facing each other in pew-like seats – like the House of Commons – he would like to have councillors sitting in the round.

He said he knew that could not be done because City Hall is a Grade II* listed building and English Heritage, the Government agency which protects buildings of architectural importance would never allow it.

But he said he was impressed by the round council chamber in the town hall at Hannover, Germany, where he spoke after signing a Memorandum of Understanding during a recent visit. Hannover is one of Bristol’s twinned cities.

“I’m sure that changing the arrangement so the seats were not facing each other would make debates less confrontational,” he said.

His comments come as the council is pressing ahead with a consultation exercise over a major revamp of City Hall so that it meets modern-day needs in the 21st century.

The semi-circular building in College Green is one of the Bristol’s iconic landmark buildings, an architectural jewel in a city with 100 Grade I listed buildings.

But it is terribly outdated as modern office space and as a venue for public meetings and events.

Its long corridors and small office rooms are a throwback to a bygone age when staff had to knock on a door and wait until being told to enter before speaking to a manager.

The council has now published online its plans for the revamp of the building, built during the 1950s.

Mr Ferguson said it was essential that the overhaul was seen in the context of a complex £70million programme of work to reduce the number of council offices and run the authority more efficiently.

Last year, the council spent £20million on buying 100 Temple Street, an office block near Temple Meads Station, where most of the council’s backroom staff will be based in the future. It will also be where people can go to pay bills or get help and advice, from sorting out problems in council houses to complaining about noisy neighbours.

Meanwhile, City Hall will be transformed to make the office space more open plan to accommodate twice as many staff and be cheaper to run in terms of heating and lighting.

The work will include fibre optics so staff can use upgraded modern technology to provide frontline services.

In the main reception area, there have been suggestions for a cafe so people can meet and talk while having refreshments.

The deadline for putting forward comments is May 16.

Once these comments have been taken on board, the council will submit an application for Listed Building Consent which is expected to be done by the end of the month. Once submitted, people will have a chance to formally object to the proposals.

A council spokeswoman said: “Bristol City Council is making a Listed Building Consent Application in preparation for the City Hall refurbishment. Before this application is submitted the council welcomes comments on the proposed designs which can be viewed at www.askbristol.com. Any comments submitted by 16 May will be considered as the final designs for the Listed Building Consent application are drawn up.

“Once the application is submitted, there will be a formal public consultation on the plans as per the statutory process for all planning applications.”