Devon fire station to rebuild while remaining open

It’s been done before

Camels Head fire station will be rebuilt where it is now after work to determine the best location for a new station concluded the existing site ticked all the boxes.

Decisionmakers heard that a fresh new station should be built at Camels Head while maintaining its service from the site.

Such a feat was achieved in Exeter in 2008-09, when a new fire station was built at Danes Castle while crews still attended shouts from the location.

Members of the Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority, which is made up of councillors from Devon County Council and Somerset Council, unanimously voted in favour of the proposal.

The current station, built in the 1960s on what was once a rubbish tip, is a vital location for the fire service, given its proximity to huge parts of the city and Devonport Dockyard.

A report prepared for the authority noted the importance of the dockyard in the recommendation to keep the station located where it is now.

“Moving the station would require substantial adjustments to multiagency safety plans, which partners have indicated would be both complex and undesirable,” it said.

The fire service said its analysis of other potential sites had revealed that the current location was the best one for its needs, but that a new station would be built in its place.

Now work will begin on planning and design work for the station, alongside a so-called ‘decant’ plan to ensure that fire crews can still do their jobs amid the construction.

Andrew Furbear, the head of finance for the fire service, said its supposed station replacement rate should be 1.6 stations a year.

But he has been in post since 2007 and said only five had been renewed, with one of those paid for by a housing developer rather than the service itself.

The service has 83 stations, a dozen of which have whole time crews for some or all of their staffing, with the rest being entirely on-call stations.

It is not yet known when construction will begin or how much the project will cost, but the fire service will put the project out to tender once it is ready to press ahead.