£1.2m Shrewsbury ambulance plan leads to fears
A residents' group has raised fresh concerns that a new £1.2 million ambulance station in Shrewsbury could cause a serious accident.
Residents had already claimed that the planned 12,500 sq ft ambulance station hub at Abella Business Centre, off Longden Road, which is close to Meole Brace and Priory secondary schools, would put pupils at risk of speeding emergency vehicles.
And now the Meole Village Residents' Association has waded into the debate, raising similar fears and opposing the plans.
Sula Baugh, on behalf of the association, said: "Between 3pm and 4pm the traffic is particularly bad on Longden Road and we are surprised that this is not an issue of concern to the ambulance service.
"Meole Village is not a suitable alternative for an ambulance in a hurry as the narrowness of Vicarage Road and the difficulty of exiting from Upper Road are real problems.
"Throughout the area schoolchildren walk and cycle on the roads without much awareness of passing traffic and we are concerned that there will be an accident involving a child and an ambulance."
But West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) refuted the claims and said the station would mainly be used as a depot for cleaning, stocking and repairing the fleet.
Robert Marsh, operational transformation lead for WMAS, said: "There will be occasions where we will attend to emergencies within the Longden area of Shrewsbury and there will be occasions where the resource responded travels from Abella.
"This will be by coincidence that the case has switched at the time when an ambulance is actually at Abella, as the plan is that they are only there for start and end of shift and meal breaks in between."
He added: "It is not planned to routinely respond from Abella." The current station in Abbey Foregate will be sold off if the plans are approved.
