A new building at Mepal Road fire station which could improve training for East Cambridgeshire firefighters has been given the green light by planners.
Planning permission was granted by East Cambridgeshire District Council at the end of May to build a training facility at Sutton’s Mepal Road fire station.
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service is investing funds into the two-storey facility, similar to a house, to better accommodate the training requirements of the district’s firefighters.
It is hoped that building work will begin next year, and be completed at the end of the year at a cost of around £150,000.
Area Commander Callum Faint, project manager, said: “We have no existing facilities at Sutton to deliver the training challenges required by not only the on-call crew at Sutton but also the other firefighters from across the district who often come together to train.
“We have put time and effort into looking at all our training facilities across the Service and identified Sutton as a key location to develop a purpose-built training hub not just for the village crew but for all firefighters in East Cambridgeshire. The smoke house-style facility will be very similar to those at our newer sites like Burwell and Cambourne, and we hope it will provide our firefighters with the best opportunities to train and hone their life-saving skills.”
During the construction period, fire cover provided by the on-call crew at Sutton will not be affected.
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