Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 15/03/2005 11:41

A state-of-the-art joint safety centre which will bring together Cornwall County Fire Brigade, Devon and Cornwall Police and the County Council’s Fire and road safety team is set to move into the final stage of procurement.



We are in commercial negotiations to select a contractor to provide and manage the exciting new building under a Private Finance Initiative for the next 25 years, and hope to be able to announce the preferred bidder shortly.



The £10m investment from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Home Office will help to realise Cornwall County Council’s vision of streamlining the way these public protection services work together. The project fits with Community Strategy aims for creating a more sustainable community and is expected to lead to considerable efficiency gains in terms of both how the services operate and collaborate.



The centre is a collaborative venture which will bring together strategic staff from the Police service, Cornwall County Fire Brigade and Fire and Road Safety.



There will be an emphasis on reducing injury and deaths on the roads, but there will also be other benefits from having Police and Fire HQ staff sitting alongside each other. The public will have direct access to 24 hour display screen equipment which will be a single point of reference for information on a range of services themed around life and work safety.



When completed, this building, based on an idea put forward by Cornwall County Fire Brigade, will be the first of its kind in the country providing a unique safety service.



If planning consent is granted next month, subject to County Council approval, final negotiations will be concluded in June, with a start on site in July 2005. The finished building should be handed over to the new occupiers in January 2007.



The joint safety centre is planned to be part of the County Council campus of buildings behind Old County Hall in Truro – adjacent to Truro Fire Station and Trading Standards headquarters.



Jill Ferrett, Cornwall County Council Executive Member for Public Protection, said, “I am very pleased to see this exciting project going ahead. There will be great benefits in terms of efficiency and cost for all the partner organisations, and it simply makes good sense to pool expertise on public protection in a single location.”