Multi-million pound Telford fire station upgrade approved
A fire station refit worth an estimated £12 million has been approved by planners.
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service applied to add two extensions and solar panels to Telford Central Fire Station, on Stafford Park, and reconfigure the car park.
The modernisation project, green-lit by Telford and Wrekin Council on Thursday will include an updated control and incident rooms and training facilities.
In the brigade’s Annual Governance Statement Improvement Plan, submitted to the county’s fire authority in April, chief fire officer Rod Hammerton and performance and communications manager Ged Edwards wrote that “potential Covid-19 impacts on contractors, sub-contractors and supply chains” could delay the tendering process.
But, they added, “a start on site in late 2020 is still achievable”.
A design statement, submitted by Staffordshire-based architects Entrust on behalf of brigade head of resources Andrew Kelcey, said: “The existing Telford Central Fire Station was built in the 1970s.
“The building fabric is now in poor condition and the internal layout and adjacencies are not conducive to current operational practice. Existing plant and services are also approaching the end of their useful life.
“The authority plan to invest up to £12 million in improvements, extension and enhancement of the fire station.”
The renovated station will have facilities for both operational and management training for use by the fire service and West Mercia Police, along with a multi-agency major incident control room.
Nearly 2,100 square metres of internal space will be reorganised “to improve the functionality and operation of the building” and one single-storey and one two-storey extension will create more than 1,500 sq m of new floorspace, the statement adds.
The car park reorganisation will increase its capacity from 60 spaces to 92, and a bike store, nine lamp posts, seven CCTV camera stands, two flag poles and solar panels will also be built on the three-acre site.
