Planning permission has been granted for a new fire station in Cosham
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service said the new building would help it meet modern demands on the service
Multi-million-pound plans to build a ‘state-of-the-art’ fire station in Cosham have been given the green light by Portsmouth City Council.
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service said the new building would help it meet modern demands on the service, including catering for larger vehicles and increased training requirements.
Planning permission was granted unanimously by councillors on Wednesday who said it would ‘make a big difference’ and help improve working conditions for firefighters in the north of the city.
‘This is a very sensible application,’ council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson said. ‘It ensures we will get a fire station there for the next 50 or 60 years and there may be a police presence there too.
‘The plans have been very well thought through.’
The project, on the PCMI land owned by the council, forms a key part of the fire service’s £27m ‘Station Investment Programme’ and, once built, will see the existing fire station site given to the council in exchange.
Cllr Vernon-Jackson said this would then help provide ‘a rare opportunity’ to draw up plans for a wider redevelopment scheme which also encompasses the recently closed neighbouring police station.
The new fire station borders the proposed sites of a new GP surgery and extra care housing development. It would be equipped with staff bedrooms, a gym and a modern training facility, which includes a practice tower.
Senior construction project manager Tony Parker said the replacement for the existing ‘cramped’ fire station was needed.
‘Firefighting has evolved quite considerably since it was built,’ he said. ‘The new station will provide direct access onto the strategic road network allowing a quicker response and also provides more dynamic training facilities and an accessible community space.’
Councillor Terry Norton, whose father worked at the fire station ‘for a long time’ said it was ‘sad’ to be losing the old facility but welcomed the improvement in the service in Cosham.