New Kanturk fire station on schedule to open in late 2019

A SENIOR Cork County Council official has said he expects the tendering process for the planned new fire station in Kanturk to get underway before the end of the year.

In May Kanturk/Mallow area councillors gave the green light to a Part 8 planning application for the new facility on a 1.4-acre site at the Mill Road Junction on Percival Street purchased almost a decade ago by the council for a figure believed to be in the region of €1 million.

The application made provision for a two-vehicle fire house and associated internal works including watch and assembly rooms, toilets/showers, workshop and muster bay and external facilities including a drill yard and 10 car-parking spaces.

At the time council architect Orla Higgins said it was hoped work on the new facility would get underway next year.

“The upgrade we are proposing is for a new fire station capable of housing modern equipment, bringing the local service in line with modern standards and providing improve access and egress in emergencies,” said Ms Higgins.

She said the council was in the process of putting together a “shovel ready” tender package and depending on final government funding approval the authority would hope to start construction work in 2018.

Addressing the July northern area meeting the council’s director of environment services, Louis Duffy, said the authority was well on the way to having the station in operation by the final quarter of 2019.

“We are still working on the final design of detailed drawings for the station and would hope to go to tender by the end of 2017 or early next year. The turnaround time will be quite short, in the region of 14-months, so we are still on schedule as per the original time-line,” said Mr Duffy.

Cllr Timmy Collins (Ind) welcomed Mr Duffy’s comments, saying the new fire station was “badly needed”.

“This facility is vital to the volunteer fire-fighters of Kanturk, because what they have at the moment is little more than a garage in which house and maintain their fire engines,” said Cllr Collins.

“I know the people of Kanturk and the wider area will be glad to hear plans for the new fire station are advancing well,” he added.