Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service has announced the company that it would like to rebuild Stone fire station and 10 others across the county.
Blue3 has been announced as the preferred bidder for the £50 million project after a procurement process. Blue3 will be responsible for the design, construction and ongoing maintenance of the 11 community fire stations. The stations set to be rebuilt are Stone (on The Filleybrooks), Burton-upon-Trent, Kinver, Lichfield, Longton, Leek, Chase Terrace, Rugeley, Codsall, Penkridge and Ashley.
Chief fire officer and chief executive Peter Dartford said: “This is a major milestone in the project and is very significant as it takes us another step closer to a further 11 community fire stations. Five organisations qualified to take part in the procurement process, and this was reduced to just two bidders in July last year. Final tenders were received earlier this year and staff from all levels and sections of the service have been involved in the evaluation. It was a close contest with both companies, blue3 and Vinci, producing excellent submissions. We now look forward to progressing the project with blue3.”
The project is the second private finance initiative (PFI) funded project the service has taken on. The first project has seen the rebuild of seven stations and the building of three additional stations, all of which are now operational. The new community fire stations in the first project attracted over 2,000 room bookings last year alone.
Councillor Len Bloomer, chairman of the Fire and Rescue Authority, said: “Our first community fire stations project has exceeded our expectations and we’re confident this second project will be equally successful. Like the buildings in our first project these stations will have state of the art operational facilities and dedicated community areas.”
The next steps in the project will involve blue3 finalising the design of all 11 buildings and producing a building schedule. Full planning applications will then be submitted and the final contract is due to be signed in spring 2013. Following this construction of the new community stations can get under way.
Related Posts:
2 comments