Police move to town fire station leaves community groups unable to use meeting room

A Stone councillor has spoken out after it emerged community groups are no longer able to use a meeting room at the town's fire station. Firefighters moved into the new Stone Community Fire Station in 2015 and at the time groups and organisations were encouraged to hold their meetings in a specially-designed community room.

Staffordshire Police are set to move into the fire station next month, as part of a co-location of both emergency services onto one site. The move means the community room cannot be retained however, a spokesperson from the Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner's Office told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week.

The station was one of several facilities built across the county under the Government’s Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme. It replaced the old station on the site at The Fillybrooks.

READ MORE:Extra bedrooms planned for hotel close to M6

READ MORE:Woman disappears from Shelton nine days ago and hasn't been seen since

But earlier this month Stone councillor Jill Hood revealed at a Stone Town Council meeting that community groups had been told they were no longer able to use the meeting space at the fire station. At the latest full Staffordshire County Council meeting she highlighted the issue faced by groups such as Stone U3A (University of the Third Age) to Councillor Bernard Peters, chair of the Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel.

She said: "They have suddenly been denied access to the Stone Community Fire Station. I'd like to know how does the plan to stop the use of the community centre room satisfy the requirements within the PFI contract to provide community facilities?

"(Last decade) it was announced that there was £45m worth of funding and Stone would benefit from that to build a brand new fire station, which it did. Now suddenly, through a planning application, the word 'community' has been taken out of the huge words on the front and it now says 'Stone Police and Fire Station'.

"A lot of members of the U3A are bitterly disappointed - we have over 900 members in Stone. I would like to know what the Commissioner has done to accommodate those that have been displaced?

"You may be wondering why I'm asking you this - It's because I've sent in two Freedom of Information requests and still not heard anything. That began about 12 weeks ago, so I really would be grateful if you could take my request to the Commissioner and find out for me."

In June Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Ben Adams announced that police would be working at a new base at the fire station. The former Stone Police Station in Radford Street was vacated by the force several years ago and put up for sale and in more recent years a police post was opened at the Stone Town Council offices in Station Road.

Speaking in June Mr Adams said: "The Stone Police base will be part of Staffordshire Police’s local policing model, with more officers based in our communities with the local knowledge and contacts to deal with the issues that matter to people. Making the most effective use of Stone’s modern, purpose-built facilities not only makes operational sense, allowing the two emergency services to work more closely together locally, but also makes the best use of resources and therefore public money.”

A spokesperson from the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner's Office said this week: "Following successful co-locations of local Police and Fire and Rescue teams in other fire stations, police officers covering the Stone area will operate from the fire station from November 2024. This is important in order to facilitate collaborative working between the two services, provide a professional working environment and make the best use of public assets to save taxpayers money.

"It makes operational sense to use one building to accommodate both teams in a town, rather than running two separate buildings. In the case of Stone, unfortunately it means that the community room cannot be retained.

"Plans were communicated to groups using the community rooms some months ago and the Fire and Rescue Service have engaged with them to help find alternative accommodation. Councillor Hood’s Freedom of Information Request to Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service on the matter was received on 19 August and responded to on 28 August."

Get daily headlines and breaking news emailed to you - it’s FREE