Work begins on new £4m fire station in Barnsley

Work on the new fire station began on June 15, and fire crews will move to a temporary base on Whaley Road, Barugh Green, while the new station is built on Broadway, Kingstone.

The new 10,225 sq ft station will replace the existing three storey building one on the same site, and will house three fire engines and their crews once complete.

A report from developer JF Finnegan states: "The proposals simply seek to improve and rationalise the existing fire station facilities. In doing so, theproposals will secure a modern, fit for purpose, and attractively designed facing fire station building.

Refurbishment of the existing building was ruled out due to the cost of carrying out the necessary structural investigations and repairs needed to bring the building up to standard.

The station was assessed at the end of 2018, and the new building was approved by Barnsley Council's planning board in October 2019.

As well as the main building facing on to Broadway, the scheme will include parking space for 20 cars, a cycle storage area and an extended training yard.

A design and access statement by architects Bond Bryan states: "During the early design process, the design team analysed the suitability of the site through a number of site layout options and massing studies, including alternative access arrangements and building positions.

"Through this process it was determined that the re-use of the existing site access/egress offered the most functional and cost effective solution whilst limiting the impact on the existing highway and the existing mature willow trees along the Broadway elevation.

"In all aspects of the design and specification, the proposal seeks to provide a high quality solution. This has necessitated the development of a coherent, finely detailed building which will be robust and capable of easy, low cost future maintenance and adaptation."Refurbishment has been ruled out on the basis of reduced design life expectancy and due to prohibitive costs associated with structural investigations, repairs and enhancements in order to modify the building to current operational and efficiency requirements."

Editor's message: Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues. The Star is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here www.thestar.co.uk/subscriptions for unlimited access to Sheffield news and information online. Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.