Plans to rebuild New Mills fire station shelved due to spiralling costs
Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service may be forced to shelve its plan to rebuild New Mills fire station and prioritise two other sites instead after inflation caused the project budgets to go up in smoke.
Service chiefs had originally planned to build three new stations at New Mills, Glossop and Matlock for an expected initial cost of f £8.8million, followed by £400,000 to repay borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board.
But a report to its oversight body, the Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Authority, on July 28 revealed that the combined cost had since increased by more than 50 per cent to £12.9million, plus rising interest rates on the greater borrowing required, leading bosses to revise their ambitions.
A spokesperson for the service said: “Our estates programme was developed after considering the condition of the stations across the county but also the impact of the sale of houses on our sites at Matlock and Glossop which provide some funding to offset the costs of the new builds.
"An updated programme will be considered by the authority shortly which will identify the anticipated required investment, including the projected cost of a new station for New Mills, and the funding of the programme will also be determined as part of our budget considerations.”
They added: “We will have to keep the programme under constant review given the challenging financial environment due to inflationary and other service pressures. There is no impact on service delivery or fire cover as part of the decision.”
As well as the income derived from housing sales at Matlock and Glossop, the two projects are both at more advanced stages with construction expected to begin in late 2022 or early 2023.
The rebuilding project, intended for the same site on Low Leighton Road, had yet to receive planning permission from High Peak Borough Council.
The current New Mills station, which is also home to police and ambulance teams, was built in 1967 and, when the rebuild was first agreed in 2021, had a maintenance backlog of around £400,000 plus serious issues with spatial and energy efficiency
The new building was expected to address those problems, and costs associated, and potentially continue to serves as a base for all three emergency services for the next 60 years.
Instead, the service will now undertake a new survey of the site to establish what refurbishments can be made to keep the buildings operational.
The report notes: “The service has taken the decision to defer the New Mills scheme. Works to address the condition of the station will be prioritised and undertaken in due course.”
Among those to express disappointment at the situation was High Peak MP Robert Largan, who said: “I also want to reassure New Mills residents that I will be fighting hard to get the investment we need to boost fire coverage.
“The fire brigade do an incredible job locally, putting themselves in harm’s way to keep us all safe. I want to thank everyone at New Mills Fire Station and Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service for all their hard work."