Gloucestershire County Council has received final confirmation of government funding for the building of four new community fire stations and a Life Skills Centre. There had been doubts about whether the funding to support the project would get the go-ahead: however the government has now confirmed that it will provide £40m of support.
The two old fire stations at Cheltenham and Gloucester would need to be pulled down and rebuilt anyway as they are no longer fit for purpose. Also there are currently areas of Cheltenham & Gloucester where the Fire Service cannot get to life threatening incidents within eight minutes.
Under the new scheme fire stations will be built at three new locations; with stations at Cheltenham Road East, Churchdown and Shepherd Road, Tuffley replacing the current Gloucester fire station at Eastern Avenue.In Cheltenham, a new station will be built at Uckington while the current station in Keynsham Road will be demolished and rebuilt at that location.
Building the new stations will help Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service respond quicker to incidents. The Community Life Skills Centre will provide a wide range of practical risk scenarios including road, rail, fire, electrical and water safety as well as other dangers in the home, including slips, trips, accidental poisoning and internet safety. It will also focus on teaching young people about social responsibility and respect.
It will cost just £3.8million more over 25 years to build four new community fire stations and a community life skills centre than it would have to complete the necessary demolition and replacement of the original ones. Over the same 25 years it would have cost Gloucestershire council taxpayers £17.7m to demolish, rebuild, maintain and run the existing stations in Cheltenham and Gloucester. Due to financial support from Government the cost to build, repair, maintain and run the four stations AND the life skills centre will be £21.5m
See the details in full here->Funding confirmed for new fire stations in Gloucestershire
