Two Midlands Fire Stations To Wait Another Five Years For Essential Upgrades

Rathdowney Fire Station

Plans for the renovation have been in the pipeline since the early 2000s.

Two Laois towns will be waiting at least another five years before essential upgrades are made to their fire stations.

Plans to renovate the facilities in Rathdowney and Stradbally have been in the pipeline since the early 2000s.

However, Laois Fire and Rescue Service is still awaiting government funding to finance the projects - with neither station included in the latest five-year capital funding programme.

Chief Fire Officer Declan Power says the works are badly needed, with both stations now responding to larger catchment areas:

Background

The two stations date back to 1950, when the equipment to hand amounted to a Landrover and a trailer pump.

They're now both home to state-of-the-art equipment and nine crew members each.

A new site for the Rathdowney station was bought on the Johnstown Road in the early 2000s, but plans fell through when the recession hit.

Stradbally

Declan Power says Stradbally has become their project of priority though.

The station is in "worse condition" and the number of call-outs it receives per year has doubled, from about 50 too 100, since its catchment area stretched to include parts of Co. Kildare.

A planning application for the project is currently being considered by Laois County Council - but nothing can be built without funding.

Funding

Declan says the Laois Fire and Rescue Service has been to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on a number of occasions, appealing for funding.

The two projects would cost in excess of €1.5 million each.

He says it'll be three to four years, at least, before there's any movement on either development.

He does stress that the delay is not affecting their operation response time or the service they provide to the people of Laois.

The works relate to the expansion of storage and training facilities, with upskilling taking place at sister stations while the wait continues. 

 

More from Midlands News

Download Our App