Cumbria County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service could soon benefit from a £12m investment in new and improved fire stations at five locations across the county.
The Fire and Rescue Service is currently in the second stage of a process to gain approval for a Private Finance Initiative that would see new, purpose built, fire stations in Carlisle, Workington, Penrith, Alston and Patterdale.
In Carlisle rising traffic levels and the Fire Station’s location are making it increasingly difficult for the Fire and Rescue Service to maintain response times. The devastation caused by the recent flood means that the relocation of the Fire Station is even more vital. The proposal is to build a new three-appliance fire Station relocated south of the city centre where there is access to the main road network. A supplementary single appliance station would also be created close to the city centre. The two facilities would provide excellent response ability and would provide new and greatly improved training facilities.
In Workington a replacement three-appliance station would provide more appropriate accommodation, improved training facilities and space to support further community use.
Penrith Fire Station is a retained station that currently incorporates a countywide training facility. The replacement station would be smaller and would accommodate just the needs of the Penrith appliances and crew and the training facility would be incorporated in the new development at Carlisle.
The proposed new station in Alston would, besides providing improved operational and training facilities, provide greater community use.
The current Fire Station in Patterdale is relatively limited both for operational and training needs. The proposal to replace the station with a new building on the existing site would provide hugely improved facilities for personnel, training, equipment/appliances and community safety programmes.
The Fire and Rescue Service has already submitted an initial expression of interest to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and have now been asked to work up a full business case for this project by October. The Fire and Rescue Service is currently exploring partnership opportunities for the joint Private Finance bid, including the possibility of bidding with either local or regional partners.
If successful, it is thought that construction would begin around 2007 with the new stations coming on stream by 2010.
Bernard Dolan, Chief Fire Officer says:
"This is a very exciting opportunity for the Fire and Rescue Service. We are committed to providing the best level of service and ensuring the safety of Cumbrian people. A central component in achieving that is the provision of adequate accommodation. This proposal would see the Fire and Rescue Service secure fire stations that provide improved facilities for Fire and Rescue Service personnel and better access for the communities they serve. There is still a long way to go in the process but we remain optimistic that this can be achieved and will provide us with new facilities that will help develop and improve our service and community engagement across the county."