Millions Could Be Spent On New Fire Station And Training Centre Near Horsham

Tuesday, 8 September 2020 07:08

By Karen Dunn, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans to spend more than £21m on a new fire station and training centre on the edge of Horsham are to be discussed by West Sussex County Council.

A report into the proposals, for land at Highwood, on the Horsham side of the A24, will be put to a meeting of the cabinet on Tuesday September 15, where members will be asked to authorise the submission of a planning application.

If planning permission is given, it will be the end of the line for the current fire station, in Hurst Road, which was built in 1968, as well as the West Sussex Fire & Rescue training centre, in Horley, and two buildings either side of Worthing fire station.

All three will be declared surplus to requirements and likely sold for an estimated £3.8m.

A report to the cabinet said the cost of the fire station and training centre would be covered with funds from the capital programme – £20.85m plus £461,000 of design fees.

The council plans to enter into a contract with construction firm Wilmott Dixon, through the Southern Construction Framework, to deliver the new buildings.

The new training centre would be vital for WSFRS, as it would be able to cater for live fire training – something the service currently pays Gatwick Airport to provide.

The report said:

“The forecast WSFRS firefighter recruitment profile is due to increase significantly over the next three to five years, meaning that greater volume of live fire training will be required, which Gatwick’s 50 days of provision cannot accommodate.”

Planning approval is expected to be given later this year, with building work expected to take around 16 months.

The aim is to hand over the new fire station in November 2022.

This isn’t the first time such plans have been tabled by the county council.

In 2006, a state-of-the-art station was mooted for Crawley but never materialised.

The cabinet meeting will be held online on Tuesday September 15 at 9.30am. Log on to westsussex.moderngov.co.uk for more details.