Fire station refurb in doubt over cost concerns

A planned £7m refurbishment of a fire station is being reviewed, a report says.

The investment to upgrade the building in Weston-super-Mare was approved 12 months ago by the Avon Fire Authority (AFA).

Now Avon Fire and Rescue Service chiefs are exploring whether there is a financial benefit to selling the current site to developers and building a brand new base elsewhere.

At a recent meeting, chief fire officer Matt Cook said the service needed "to do due diligence", to ensure the £7m investment achieved "value for money".

A report presented to a meeting of the fire authority warned that the service was facing rising costs with its capital programme, which could have an impact on frontline services.

Finance officer Verity Truscott said: "We have a significant capital programme and it puts a significant amount of pressure on our revenue budget in terms of financing that cost."

Design work on the Weston refurbishments have not yet started, after delays in a similar project to invest £17m in Bath fire station.

AFA member and North Somerset councillor Robert Payne said: "I had been hopeful that we would see some progress in the coming financial year."

Payne added: "The current location of the fire station isn't perfect at all, but we have already done this work and we were unable to identify any suitable sites anywhere in Weston."

Chief fire officer Matt Cook told the meeting that if there would be value in selling the current station and finding a new location, "then it might be more cost effective than investing £7m into the station".

"At this point we're not saying we're not going to invest £7m into the refurbishment of the station, but we need to do due diligence to ensure it's value for money," he said.

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