Work on £1.6m fire station to start soon

Fire engine

Work will begin in the New Year on building a new community fire station in Rochdale.

The new premises, on Cook Street, near Halifax Road, will replace the existing facilities on Maclure Road.

The Maclure road site will close as soon as the new premise is ready.

To update and refurbish the existing premises would have required substantial investment.  The Fire Authority therefore decided to build a new Community Fire Station which represents an investment in Rochdale of £1.6m.

The contract to build the fire station has been awarded to building contractor Kier Northern.  

County Fire Officer, Steve McGuirk, said:  "It is gratifying that at a time when all authorities are experiencing financial cutbacks we, through prudent financial management, are able to proceed with this planned development to ensure we maintain a first class fire and rescue service."

Rochdale's new community fire station is strategically located to enable fire-fighters to continue to respond to incidents effectively whilst also continuing their work in all areas of public safety.

Facilities at the community fire station will include office accommodation, training facilities, a drill tower, three vehicle appliance bay, car parking, storage areas and gardens.

The fire station will be specifically designed to be environmentally efficient and will include initiatives such as energy efficient heating systems, which will save thousands of pounds each year, rainwater recycling systems to flush toilets and solar collectors to provide hot water for showers and washing.  A recycling policy will be in place throughout the construction phase to ensure best use of resources is made.  Recycled and waste materials will be utilised wherever possible in the construction programme and waste materials from the site recycled.

The community fire station will be an important part of the local community and will include a room for use by community partners, groups and adult education providers, a gymnasium suitable for children aged 6-16 years and allotments for growing fruit and vegetables.

Building work is expected to be completed in 12-18 months time.