New £21m fire station for Horsham gets green light
It's set to become the county's base for live fire training
Plans for a new fire service training centre and fire station for Horsham, costing £21 million, have been approved by planning bosses.
The development will be built on land off the A24 at Highwood Mill for West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service.
The new facility, which was given the go-ahead by West Sussex County Council's planning committee on Tuesday (February 2nd), has been in the works for more than a decade.
It is intended to become the county's main base for fire and rescue service staff, as well as containing a new 24-hour station for Horsham and the surrounding district.
The training centre has an emphasis on real-life scenario training. The centre will include:
combined training tower and breathing apparatus facility
realistic live fire training facility construction to zero emissions standards
residential recruit training
multi-agency incident command training facility
realistic road traffic collision training area
training rooms used for digital simulations.
Duncan Crow, West Sussex County Council's Cabinet Member for Fire & Rescue and Communities, said:
“I am delighted that this project has been approved today. The new development represents a significant investment in our fire and rescue service that will allow our firefighters the very best in training facilities.
"This benefits not only our firefighters, but also the safety of West Sussex residents."
The new site has an emphasis on renewable energy sources, such as solar panels and air source heat pumps to provide heating, as well as electric vehicle charging points, in-line with the county council’s drive to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, Chief Fire Officer for West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, said:
“This is a fantastic commitment from the county council to the training and development of all of our staff, and one which is going to have an incredible impact upon our service.
"I cannot wait for work to begin to turn these plans into a fully functional fire station and training centre.”
Work is expected to start in May and will take around 18 months to complete.