Design plans for the new Community Fire Station in Stone will be showcased at a drop-in session in the town on Wednesday 18th September (please note the date – the original was incorrectly given by the fire service as 11th September).
Residents can call into the existing fire station on The Fillybrooks between 6pm and 8pm to talk to the construction team about the work programme. Local people will also be able to suggest to the project team ways that the community facilities could be used.
Work on the new Community Fire Station, which will be built on the same site as the existing facility, will start next month.
The project is the second phase of an innovative programme to provide state-of-the-art fire stations across Staffordshire which are also community-focussed with facilities to benefit local people.
Phase one of the scheme received £45 million in funding and saw three additional stations developed and seven stations replaced between October 2009 and September 2011.
Now phase two will see a further 10 fire stations rebuilt on their current sites plus a brand new station at Loggerheads to replace the 45-year-old station at Ashley.
Stone’s Community Fire Station will be equipped with hi-tech operational facilities and will have space for more community safety activities such as student firefighter courses.
All of the new stations will incorporate dedicated rooms and amenities for the benefit of community groups and fitness equipment will be available for supervised groups to use.
Community stations opened in phase one currently provide a meeting place for more than 200 different groups, charities and public sector organisations across the county, ranging from Staffordshire Police, the NHS, Citizens Advice Bureau and housing associations to music for the Turkish community, creative writing clubs and gardening groups.
PFI Programme Director Steve Knight said: “This is a great opportunity for residents to come and have a look at the plans for their new Community Fire Station and to talk to the construction team about the work programme.
“The Community Fire Stations are proving to be a real hub for local communities and it would be great for the people of Stone to come along and have an input into the type of activities that will be held there once the new building is complete. In Staffordshire we are leading the way for the UK’s fire and rescue service and these facilities are right at the heart of our success in decreasing the number of fires, year on year, through increased education on how to prevent fires.”
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Mr S T Rout
Built with PFI money which means that the tax-payer will be paying the developer for many, many years to come for interest on the loan to the Government and maintenance of the buildings. Are there not enough public spaces for hire in Stone and environs without creating this expensive building. Stone Fire Station already has an unused meeting space in the form of their clubroom on the first floor. Is there really any identified need for this very expensive white elephant which will line the pockets of the developer at the taxpayers expense?