Stirling fire station is getting a revamp following years of speculation that a whole new station could be built.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service senior local officer Mark Bryce said work was currently underway to “futureproof” the Raploch Road building.
He was updating councillors at a recent virtual meeting of Stirling Council’s public safety committee.
“We currently have portable buildings at the back of the Stirling station,” said Mr Bryce. “We are having some work done to futureproof Stirling station to increase dignity and improve standards at the station.
“Work will take around four months to complete but it will allow the station to remain where it is for years to come.”
Councillor Neil Benny said it sounded as if there had been some progress and “some conclusion reached” on future plans, asking if there were any other plans members should be aware of.
Mr Bryce said: “In Stirlingshire, Dunblane is the next property to have works done. At the moment Stirling is the station in the most need. The property has been mostly untouched since 1968.
“Top-floor work is being done at the moment and ground floor in the next financial year. No final decision has been taken at the moment. Some of these assets still need negotiation with our representative bodies. As soon as we have information we will let you know. It’s to make the building better.”
Councillor Benny said: “This has been rumbling on for a couple of years since SFRS amalgamation. There were a number of options being looked at in terms of new sites and consideration of a new fire station instead of refurbishment.”
Mr Bryce said land offered at one time for purchase to build another station wasn’t suitable and didn’t provide an advantage in terms of reach, adding that consideration was given to building a new station on the current site but an upgrade was deemed more advantageous.
The committee asked for a report to a future meeting on the service’s property deliberations involving the Stirling area.
In 2015 the Observer reported that a £7.6million project for Kildean in Raploch had come out top in an options appraisal by SFRS for a new headquarters, having come up against competition from the likes of The Atrium in Perth, Perth Fire Station and the Falkirk Gateway site.
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However later that year it looked to have lost out to a proposal for a less expensive option at the site of the service’s college at Cambuslang following a redirection by the Scottish Government.
Stirling Fire Station had been said to be a “good fit for many reasons”, despite access issues, visibility from the castle and the close proximity to homes in Raploch presenting “significant challenges”, however financial factors appear to have played a major role in the change of thought.
