£3.15m funding approved for improvement work to be carried out at four West Sussex fire stations

The money will be spread through the county council’s capital programme up to 2025/26, adding to the £1.85m which was approved for the project in January 2022.

The work, which will cover the stations at Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, Selsey and Haywards Heath, forms part of the council’s Estates Improvement Plan.

Once all the design work has been completed and a contractor found, construction is expected to start in the spring/summer of 2025 and end in spring 2026.

The £3.15m was approved by Duncan Crow, cabinet member for community support, fire & rescue.

A report to Mr Crow from the head of strategic risk & improvement, warned that it was ‘likely’ that one of the stations would be dropped to phase 2 of the improvement plan, depending on the outcome of reviews of how best to deliver the work.

The intention behind the work is for the Fire & Rescue Service’s buildings and facilities to: provide modern, professional working environments; encourage greater diversity and inclusion; improve opportunities to work better with partners; be designed to meet the needs of the community and the service; be operationally efficient and effective; be sustainable and environmentally friendly; and offer flexible space.

The four stations in phase 1 were described as being of ‘the highest priority’ for improvements, with another 18 waiting in phase 2.