Fire crews across Cambridgeshire will soon be benefitting from a new training facility following approval from councillors.
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority agreed for the Service to pursue plans for a new training facility and fire station in Huntingdon. Members gave their views via a video consultation to the chairman last week, who used delegated urgency powers to take the decision.
Chief Fire Officer Chris Strickland said: “I am delighted that members have given their approval for the project. We have been seeking to improve our operational training for a number of years and have relied on other services to provide venues in order for our operational staff to get realistic scenarios. Although these have proved to be effective, we want to ensure we are able to give our staff the best possible facilities, and having our own venue within the county definitely allows us to do this.
The next stage of the process is to seek planning permission, after which a completion timeline can be confirmed.
Chairman of the authority, Councillor Kevin Reynolds, added: “I am pleased we have been able to make a step forward on this project despite the current unprecedented pandemic situation we are faced with. This is a business critical project as training our operational staff is vitally important, so I wanted to use whatever resources I could to get the project moving without any further delay.
“The members formally asked me to utilise my urgency powers during the video teleconference, which was the first held by the authority. I was also keen to ensure those that weren’t able to dial in were able to give their views. As an authority we were all in agreement to get the process moving as soon as we can.”
Plans and further details of the project will be put together over the coming weeks, which will be made available on our website.
For more information, go to www.cambsfire.gov.uk
