Basingstoke: £6m Plans For Fire Station

The first plans for a new £6m fire station in Basingstoke have been revealed.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service plans to completely rebuild the current facility.

Basingstoke's fire crews will relocate to a temporary site while the rebuild is taking place, but say there will be no reduction or interruption to the service provided by the station. 

The new station will see more specialist vehicles, making Basingstoke the largest in Hampshire in terms of vehicle numbers.

A new state-of-the-art training facility is also planned on the site, while extra community spaces will also be built into the new structure. 

Dave Norgate, Group Manager for Basingstoke, said: "This investment shows the Service's commitment to the safety of our communities in the north of Hampshire.

"Our current station was built back in the 1960s and it has served us well since that time. 

"However, it is no longer equipped to deal with the demands of a modern fire service and the annual upkeep costs are high. 

An outline budget of £6m was approved by the Hampshire Fire Authority in February. 

The proposals are due to be discussed by the fire authority later this year, with a view to submitting a planning application early in 2013. 

If approved, the project will be the biggest undertaken by the Service since the construction of their current headquarters in Eastleigh in the early 1980s. 

The preferred option for the interim site at the moment is a warehouse at Houndsmill. It's hoped crews will be able to move into the station in November 2014.

"The new station will provide Basingstoke and the north of the county with a wonderful facility that will help us to protect the public for decades to come."