New fire station for Limavady
Thursday, 30 October 2008
A NEW state-of-the-art fire station is to be built in the Roe Valley as part of a major NIFRS redevelopment and investment project.
Local Assemblyman George Robinson this week confirmed that Limavady will be one of the 26 stations to be replaced, with the acquisition of a new site in the pipeline.
He confirmed the news after speaking to the province's Chief Fire Officer Colin Lammey at Stormont last week.
Speaking to the Limavady Chronicle, the veteran Councillor said: "I am delighted in the news.
"At the end of a meeting where we were discussing a proposal to remove the second appliance from Portstewart, I could not resist asking Mr Lammey, the Chief Fire Officer, about the future of Limavady fire station.
“He confirmed that there will be a new station built as soon as a suitable site can be purchased on the out skirts of the town. This will hasten the response times to most calls as the crews will not have to circumnavigate the town to reach some calls.
"It is a great piece of news for Limavady and it is most certainly long overdue. Limavady's fire fighters have in recent months been very active in the preservation and protection of life and deserve the very best of equipment and facilities with which to do their highly dangerous job."
The Deputy Mayor continued: "I was reassured by Mr Lammey that the search for the site is actively underway and and that once the site is acquired, and planning permission received, that the money would be released and construction undertaken. Obviously this will take some time, but we at least know that new facilities and the necessary finances have been earmarked for Limavady."
With total planned investment of some £168m over the next decade, the NIRFS intends to replace 26 stations, including the purchase of 22 new sites and the refurbish a further 10 existing ones.
A number of new pumping appliances will also be replaced annually until 2017 under the Fleet Replacement Strategy. This funding will include £30m for the planned new Public Sector Training College at Desertcreat near Cookstown which is being developed by the NIFRS, the PSNI and the NI Prison Service.
A spokesperson for the NI Fire and Rescue today told the Chronicle that the NIFRS were currently looking for a suitable site in the town to replace the current station, which was opened in 1953.
“Limavady is one of the 22 areas that we are actively searching new sites for but it is not one of our priority stations, which we are hoping to complete in the next three years.
“At present we are working towards completing our new station in Armagh City, and we have set Newtonstewart, Fintona and Omagh as our immediate priority stations.
“We still haven't identified a site in Limavady but are working hard to find a suitable location."
