Move to bring town’s police and fire service under same roof moves step nearer

Moves to bring a Herefordshire town’s police and fire services together under one roof have taken a step forward.

Planning permission has been granted to expand Leominster Police Station on the town’s industrial estate to form a combined emergency services hub with Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, which would then vacate its current base in the town’s Broad Street car park.

To this end, the fire service applied for permission last December to build a two-storey, stand-alone training facility with training rig on an area to the east of the site currently used for parking and a helipad.

New fire engine garages were to be built alongside the main existing building, which will be remodelled inside to form the combined emergency services hub.

Leominster town council backed the plan but voiced concerns about the liability of the site to flooding.

Planning officer Ollie Jones considered that flood-resilient design would make the development “safe for its lifetime” while not increasing the risk of flooding elsewhere, and pointed out the fire service’s current location was more at risk of flooding.

Recommending approval, he said the plan would not cause any unacceptable impacts on local roads, ecology or visual amenity either, while the combined hub would provide “resource efficiencies and a more resilient emergency response”.