STONE’S COMMUNITY FIRE STATION
New Community Fire Station
plans are a hot topic
D
esign plans for the new Community Fire
Station in Stone were showcased to the
public recently during a drop-in session held
at the end of September.
The blueprint for the facility, which is one of 11
being funded through a £45 million Private
Finance Initiative, were displayed for anyone to
have a look at on Wednesday 18th September.
Residents in their droves called into the existing
fire station on The Fillybrooks between 6pm and
8pm on the day to talk to the construction team
about the work programme.
Local people were also able to suggest to the
project team ways that the community facilities
could be used.
Work on the new Community Fire Station,
which will be built on the same site as the existing
facility, is set to start this October.
The project is the second phase of an innovative
programme to provide state-of-the-art fire stations
across Staffordshire which are also communityfocussed with facilities to benefit local people.
Phase one of the scheme received £45 million
in funding and saw three additional stations
developed and seven stations replaced between
October 2009 and September 2011.
Now phase two will see a further 10 fire stations
rebuilt on their current sites plus a brand new
station at Loggerheads to replace the 45-year-old
station at Ashley.
Stone’s Community Fire Station will be
equipped with hi-tech operational facilities and
will have space for more community safety
activities such as student firefighter courses.
All of the new stations will incorporate
dedicated rooms and amenities for the benefit of
community groups and fitness equipment will be
available for supervised groups to use.
Community stations opened in phase one
currently provide a meeting place for more than
200 different groups, charities and public sector
organisations across the county, ranging from
Staffordshire Police, the NHS, Citizens Advice
Bureau and housing associations to community
music classes, creative writing clubs and gardening
groups.
PFI Programme Director Steve Knight told
Stone and Eccleshall Life: “This was a great
opportunity for residents to come and have a look
at the plans for their new Community Fire Station
and to talk to the construction team about the work
programme.
"The Community Fire Stations are proving to
be a real hub for local communities and it would
be great for the people of Stone to come along and
have an input into the type of activities that will be
held there once the new building is complete.
“In Staffordshire we are leading the way for the
UK’s fire and rescue service and these facilities are
right at the heart of our success in decreasing the
number of fires, year on year, through increased
education on how to prevent fires.”
October/November 2013 15