Archived decisions
Appendix 1 | |||
HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE | |||
New Fire Station, Carpenters Down, Chineham | |||
Feasibility Report | |||
Contents: | |||
Feasibility Report: | |||
1.00 |
Introduction | ||
2.00 |
Briefing | ||
3.00 |
Site History | ||
4.00 |
Site Constraints | ||
5.00 |
Options Appraisal | ||
6.00 |
Costs/Funding | ||
7.00 |
Programme | ||
8.00 |
Design Team | ||
9..00 |
Health and Safety | ||
10.00 |
Summary | ||
Note: |
Appendices to Feasibility Study in different format and unable to attach to report. | ||
Appendices |
A |
Schedule of Accommodation | |
B |
Right of Way Map | ||
C |
Site Plan | ||
D |
Highway works site plan (Chineham Park Access Road) | ||
E |
Highway works site plan (A33 Junction Improvement) | ||
F |
Highway works location plan (A33 Corridor Proposals) | ||
G |
Sketch site plan showing falls/levels | ||
H |
Existing services site location plan | ||
I |
Design Options | ||
Provisional Specification | |||
K |
Outline Budget Estimate | ||
L |
Programme | ||
M |
Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Sheets | ||
Produced by: Hampshire County Council, Property, Business and Regulatory Ref: E0861-a02a-cj170901 012/10/2001 | |||
1.00 |
Introduction | ||||
1.01 |
This report examines the feasibility of providing a second fire station for Basingstoke, located on a site at Carpenters Down, Chineham, for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. The site was first identified for a fire station in the early 1970's, when an initial feasibility design was provided by the County Architect to the Chief Fire Officer, prior to the purchase of the land by Hampshire County Council in 1976. | ||||
1.02 |
The scope of this feasibility study is to assess the site parameters and constraints in the context of the brief now required for the new station. A number of options for positioning the building on the site will be considered and appraised, with one or more options being recommended for developing further. | ||||
2.00 |
Briefing | ||||
2.01 |
Role: The new fire station is intended to assist the existing station at West Ham, Basingstoke, in providing fire cover to the Basingstoke area. Its location in Chineham has been selected to ensure acceptable response times to the recent and forthcoming urban developments in this area and to the north of the town. | ||||
2.02 |
Activities: The station will be equipped on the basis of a 4-bay appliance room. | ||||
An element of retained fire personnel is planned to assist a full-time 4-watch provision. | |||||
Standard training activities are anticipated for the drill yard, with a standard proprietary drill tower. Foam training is not to be provided for. | |||||
A community training facility is to be included, with a small suite of ground floor rooms permitting semi-independent use for talks, seminars, etc with non-HFRS groups. | |||||
It is currently proposed to include some office accommodation for out-posting certain reference officers from the station at West Ham, Basingstoke to the new station at Carpenters Down. | |||||
2.03 |
Draft Requirements: A Schedule of Accommodation has been prepared and agreed with HFRS, designed to fulfil the above role and activities. This has been predominantly based on the brief for St Mary's Fire Station, Southampton, currently nearing completion. Refer Appendix A. | ||||
2.04 |
The above Schedule of Accommodation gives rise to a two storey building of approximate overall ground floor footprint of 735m². With an appliance room of 240m², this leaves an accommodation block of some 495m² ground floor footprint. (Gross internal floor area 1235m²). The options for the location of the building on the site (considered in Section 5.00) have been tested as schematic `blocks' on this basis. More detailed internal arrangements will be developed at the next scheme design stage for the particular option(s) selected. | ||||
3.00 |
Site History | ||||
3.01 |
Archaeology: Following consultation with the County Council's Senior Archaeologist, it has been confirmed that there is little recorded archaeology in the area of Carpenters Down on the Sites and Monuments Record. It is, therefore, `highly unlikely' that any archaeological concerns would be raised upon submission of development plans for the site. | ||||
3.02 |
Previous Land Use: From an historical map search it would appear that no previous buildings have existed on the site. Maps from 1872, 1896, 1911 and 1932 all suggest open farmland in agricultural use, with a `rifle range' noted from 1896. The minor risk of uncovering unexploded shells/cartridges has been noted and consideration is being given to the need for soil sampling to determine if there is any ground contamination. In the 1960's the land was part of a very large acquisition by the Basingstoke Development Group on behalf of the Borough Council for the rapid expansion of the town at that time. By the early 1970's this particular site had been identified as surplus to highway requirements and suitable for a fire station. Its acquisition by the County Council for that purpose was finally completed in February 1976. | ||||
3.03 |
Right of Way: Consultation with the County Council's Rights of Way Office has indicated that there may be a public right of way on or adjacent to the site (Refer Appendix B). Whilst the 1:50,000 Ordnance Survey appears to show a footpath crossing the middle of the site, the Definitive Map held by the Rights of Way Office shows the historic line of a footpath passing just to the north of the site. This legally definitive line relates to a farm track and field boundary in existence prior to the development of the 1960's/1970's. Virtually all traces of this line have now been obliterated by the development, although it has yet to be legally diverted (shown yellow on Appendix B map). The matter is further confused by an alternative right of way shown on the Rights of Way Office electronic database (shown pink on Appendix B map) which follows an erratic `unexplained' line through much of the residential development. This second line does cross the site of the fire station in the south-east corner. The Rights of Way Office have confirmed, however, that the legal line of the right of way just misses the site in the north west corner and, therefore, no application for a diversion is required for this development. | ||||
3.04 |
Planning Permission: Outline Planning Permission was originally obtained for a fire station on this site in October 1973. Since then outline permission has been repeatedly renewed, with the latest permission granted on 27 July 2000. The principle conditions attached to this approval are: | ||||
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Further full planning application required for approval of reserved matters (siting, design, appearance, access and landscaping) | ||||
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Above application required prior to July 2003. | ||||
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Construction to commence prior to July 2005 | ||||
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Entry and exit of vehicles to and from the site via Shetland Road, except for egress of fire vehicles onto Carpenters Down. | ||||
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Provision of traffic signals on Carpenters Down in relation to the fire station to be approved prior to operation of station. | ||||
3.05 |
Boundaries/ownership: Although the site appears to be undefined grass verge to verge between the surrounding roadways, a number of `virtual' boundaries exist on the site, defined by title, visibility splays, highway requirements, etc. These are shown on the Site Plan in Appendix C and can be further clarified as follows: | ||||
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Freehold title boundary (edged in purple): line defined by title deeds held by Land Registry, currently in name of HCC, but in effect now transferred to HFRS. This is the land for which outline planning permission has been obtained. The boundary was established at the time of the site acquisition from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (B&DBC) with specific parallel set-back dimensions from the surrounding highway land, a 9.2 x 90m visibility splay on the corner of Shetland Road with Carpenters Down and an undefined forward visibility splay around the bend of Shetland Road for highway purposes. | ||||
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Highway Land Maintained at Public Expense (edged in red): line as recorded in 2001 database of B&DBC. This land does not meet up with the Freehold title boundary, leaving a residual strip in between (shaded grey). The ownership of this strip is unclear: it may be owned either by HCC or by B&DBC. HCC Estates Practice advise that, although a part of the original land acquired by B&DBC for the town expansion, it may have transferred to HCC ownership under the Local Government Reorganisation of 1974 as it was land subject to highway rights. HCC Chief Executive advise that this matter requires dialogue with B&DBC to achieve a formal acknowledgment by both HCC and B&DBC that the land from the highway up to and including the boundary of the Fire Station site is indeed highway. It should be noted that the resolution of this matter may incur legal costs and could potentially give rise to a substantial financial settlement being sought by B&DBC for access rights, if this residual strip is found to be in their ownership. | ||||
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Redefined Visibility Splay (shown in green): the original forward visibility splay on the corner of Shetland Road was established in the 1970's by the County Surveyor and has been digitised onto the site plan from the title deed plan. There is no numeric data on record defining this splay, but it is now considered to be excessive for the 30mph speed limit on this road. Indeed, it can be argued that such long visibility on the bend could cause speeds to be increased, rather than the reverse. In consultation with the County Surveyor, a revised visibility splay has now been created using modern standards (Movement and Access in Residential Areas, HCC 1995), assuming a stopping distance of 45m (25mph) for the initial 33m from the junction and 60m(30mph) for the remainder of the bend. Taking this to be the limit of land required for highway purposes results in a minor increase in the space available for the fire station, albeit at a critical point on the site. Subject to a satisfactory resolution of the matter of ownership described above, the County Surveyor has confirmed that it would be acceptable for this new visibility splay to become the effective site boundary. The design options set out in Section 5.00 have all been developed on this key assumption. | ||||
4.00 |
Site Constraints | ||||
4.01 |
Highway Developments: A number of developments are proposed for the nearby highways which are of significance to the fire station site: | ||||
Firstly, work has recently commenced on the access road into Chineham Business Park (Crockford Lane) and is expected to take 6 months. ( Refer site plan Appendix D). The principal implications of this work for the fire station are: | |||||
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the closure of Crockford Lane Spur West into a cul-de-sac to a single property accessed only from Carpenters Down. | ||||
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The opening of Carpenters Down to permit two-way access from the A33 junction. | ||||
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The installation of a pinch point at the entrance into Carpenters Down from the A33, to reduce traffic speeds. | ||||
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The installation of a build-out with cycle pass adjacent to the site on Carpenters Down, to reduce traffic speeds. | ||||
Secondly, there is a proposal to provide a `Toucan' cycle/pedestrian signal crossing adjacent to the pinch-point at the entrance to Carpenters Down. The existing subway would be infilled . These signals would require interfacing with the fire station signals operation. | |||||
Thirdly, an improvement scheme is proposed for the A33 junction with Carpenters Down and Crockford Lane, (refer Appendix E), changing the roundabout into a signal-controlled junction. This is one of a number of similar signal-controlled junction improvements proposed along the A33 Corridor (refer Appendix F), with the aim of improving control of traffic congestion on this road at peak times. All these new signals will need interfacing with the new fire station signals, to provide either a `green wave' or `all to red' as required. During the consultation for this feasibility study, the County Surveyor has been advised of the anticipated need for this interfacing. | |||||
4.02 |
Site Access: As noted above in para 3.04, Condition 6 of the outline planning permission for the fire station states that `all vehicles shall enter and leave the site via Shetland Road, except for fire appliances which shall egress onto Carpenters Down at a point midway between Shetland Road and Crockford Lane.' This had been established for reasons of highway safety in the context of the existing layout. | ||||
However, in view of the imminent highway changes to Carpenters Down and Crockford Lane noted above in para 4.01, it is considered that an application for the removal/amendment of this Condition should be made as a part of the full planning application for the fire station. In consultation with the County Surveyor, it has been agreed that, if possible, all access to and from the site should be from Carpenters Down. This would operate well with the two-way entry into Carpenters Down and would avoid increasing traffic on Shetland Road. There is, however, a potential clash with the build-out to be constructed adjacent to the site on Carpenters Down. It has been agreed with the County Surveyor that, if necessary this build-out could be removed or altered as a part of the fire station development (costed to the project), since additional traffic calming measures are proposed further west along Carpenters Down. | |||||
Accordingly, the design options set out in Section 5.00 have all been developed on the assumption that: | |||||
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site entry and exit is only via Carpenters Down | ||||
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there are no particular `external' constraints governing exactly where on Carpenters Down this access is achieved. | ||||
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Wig-wag lights will be required on Carpenters Down. | ||||
4.03 |
Levels: A sketch site plan showing approximate falls and level differences is included in Appendix G. As noted, there is cross-fall from Shetland Road to Carpenters Down of approximately 1.8m at the eastern end of the site opposite Crockford Lane Spur, with 1.4m across the centre of the site. Notwithstanding the highway issues described above in para 4.02, if entry to the site were to be provided on Shetland Road, with exit for fire appliances directly opposite onto Carpenters Down, this cross-fall would give rise to a slope in the drill yard of approximately 1 in 19. This is considered operationally unacceptable and further supports the proposal for access only from Carpenters Down. Even so, the drill yard (or building, depending on positioning) will need to be `cut into' the cross-fall on the site and the higher ground leading up to the existing trees at the south-east end of the site to achieve suitable levels within the yard. This will require the removal of excavated material from site (potentially subject to landfill tax), together with embankments and/or retaining walls. These `abnormal' costs are included in the outline budget estimate. | ||||
4.04 |
Ground Conditions: Whilst site trial pit investigations have been commissioned, they have yet to be carried out at the time of writing. Geological records for the area have been consulted, however, together with the results of previous trial pits and boreholes on nearby sites. These broadly indicate a sub-soil of sandy clay. | ||||
On the basis of the above information, initial structural engineering advice has suggested trench fill foundations 1.0 -1.5m deep with a suspended ground floor slab construction. (300mm thick in appliance room.) This is to protect the foundations from movement due to the likely shrinkage of the clay sub-soil, caused by the drying out of the clay following construction of the building and hard-surfacing over the site. | |||||
4.05 |
Existing Services: Record information for below ground services has been requested as follows: | ||||
Gas (Transco) |
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Electricity (S&S) |
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shown on plan, Appendix H | |||
Water mains (South East Water) |
) |
||||
Foul and Surface (Thames Water) |
) |
||||
Telecom (BT) |
) |
replies awaited | |||
Telecom (Fujitsu) |
) |
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The location of the 250mm diam gas main across the south-east corner of the site, together with its 5m easement strip, will restrict the development proposals in this area. All options in Section 5.00 have taken this restriction into account. | |||||
The surface water drain along the verge of Carpenters Down has an invert of only 1.1m below cover level. Where this underlies ground required for excavation for road build-up, temporary or indeed permanent protection measures may be necessary. Connection to it, however, would be relatively straightforward. | |||||
The HV electrical mains and LP gas main on the verge of Carpenters Down in the north-west corner of the site will need lowering, where they would underlie an access point into or out of the site. This affects all options to varying degrees. | |||||
Mains water services are available on the south side of Maldive Road, off Shetland Road. This will require a temporary road closure across Shetland Road for the service connection. The foul water drainage is similarly located and will also require a road closure. The invert of the foul manhole is relatively shallow - this may require a pumped drainage system to be utilised, depending on the position of the building. | |||||
4.06 |
Site Security/Vandalism: Unlike many other fire stations, this particular site is entirely surrounded by public domain. This leaves it as an `island', exposed on all sides, and will necessitate the formation of a secure boundary for the full perimeter of the site. This could take the form of a solid wall, fencing or hedging/planting or a combination depending on the location around the boundary. This will be a significant site `abnormal' cost. | ||||
It is evident from the condition of other nearby buildings and shops within the housing estate that vandalism should be anticipated. Whilst the positioning and detailed design of the building can go some way towards reducing the extent of vandalism, it is inevitable that it will occur. This should be borne in mind in the assessment of likely maintenance costs. | |||||
The existing open nature of the boundary currently facilitates short-cuts across the site, as well as its use as a public amenity. Creating a closed boundary along Shetland Road, with access to the site only from Carpenters Down, will prevent such `short-cutting' through the drill yard. | |||||
5.00 |
Options Appraisal | ||||
5.01 |
General: Appendix I contains six options for the configuration of the fire station and drill yard on the site. As noted previously, all options have been developed on the assumption of access only from Carpenters Down and a reduced visibility splay around the bend of Shetland Road. | ||||
Three different basic positions for the appliance room were identified on the site: the west and east ends of the Carpenters Down frontage and a transverse orientation in the centre-west of the site. Swept-path tracking of a long chassis ALP was used to determine the approximate limiting positions of the three options (11.5m long, 22m sweep circle), ensuring clearance from boundary walls/fencing and egress onto the highway. All options require the installation of wig-wag controls on Carpenters Down, as all swept-paths cross to the opposite carriageway upon exiting. A pair of alternative configurations for the accommodation block for each of the three options for the appliance room give rise to six options overall. These are presented in Appendix I ,with the pros and cons for each, and are summarised as follows: | |||||
5.02 |
Options 1 and 2: These options position the appliance room to the west end of the Carpenters Down frontage. Both have limited turning space to the rear of the appliance room, with Option 1 having a clearer separation of activities within the drill yard. Although a reasonable resolution of the drill yard, Option 1 has drawbacks for the design of the accommodation block. Its shape is highly prescriptive for the internal arrangement of rooms - this would only normally be necessary on a tight inner-city site where fewer options were available. Its immediacy to the corner is also awkward on this suburban site, where the character of the area has buildings set further back from the road. | ||||
5.03 |
Options 3 and 4: These options position the appliance room to the east end of the Carpenters Down frontage. The site is slightly wider at this end, resulting in better turning space to the rear of the appliance room, although this is still limited. Both options have a clear separation of parking and training areas, although in Option 3 all cars have to pass through the training area to reach the parking. Option 4 positions the accommodation block across the site, with only its ends presenting a public frontage. Of the two, Option 4 has the more advantages. | ||||
5.04 |
Options 5 and 6: These options position the appliance room in a transverse orientation across the centre-west of the site, giving the best turning space and access to the yard of all the options. Option 5 locates the accommodation block on the Carpenters Down frontage, away from the housing on Shetland Road. For this reason, primarily, it is considered the better of the two. Sufficient working space will need to be allowed, however, to ensure construction work does not obstruct the visibility splay on Carpenters Down - this would need closer consideration to establish if there is adequate width to the site at this point for this option to be workable. The highway safety concerns raised by both options due to the proximity of the exit point for fire appliances to the Shetland Road junction would need to be resolved if either option were to be pursued. | ||||
5.05 |
Vehicle Manoeuvres: With access to the site only from Carpenters Down, all options will require the fire appliances to make a 180º turn on site in total, whether in a single u-turn manoeuvre or a series of individual 90º turns. Inevitably, this on-site manoeuvring will have implications for tyre wear and ground surface wear. At this stage it has been assumed for cost purposes that a high grade asphalt surfacing may be used, as specified for St Mary's, Southampton, following consultation with the County Surveyor. Whilst Options 1-4 require the u-turn in the drill yard itself, the exit path for these options onto the highway is straightforward. Conversely, Options 5&6 require, if turning eastwards, a 180º turn onto the highway upon exiting. With the option of a straight through route across the site unworkable due to levels, there appears to be no optimum solution to this problem. | ||||
5.06 |
Appraisal Following an initial presentation to HFRS, it was felt that Option 5 would appear to have the most advantages. It does, however, rely on a resolution of the exit arrangements onto Carpenters Down for the appliances and an agreement regarding the ownership of the `residual strip' of land inside the revised visibility splay on the bend of Shetland Road. Of the remaining alternatives, Option 4 presents the next most favourable design solution; it is the one option shown that could work within the existing legal boundary (ie. visibility splay on bend remains unchanged) and avoids the proximity of the exit to the Shetland Road junction. | ||||
6.00 |
Costs/Funding | ||||
6.01 |
An initial cost appraisal of the above options has confirmed that there would appear to be little substantial cost difference between them. In each, the building is of a similar size and nature and the area of the site developed is approximately the same. As such, cost alone should not be considered a deciding factor between the options. | ||||
6.02 |
On the basis of the above design appraisal and stated preference, Option 5 has been examined further to produce a Provisional Specification (Appendix J). The contents of the specification are proposed solely for the purposes of focussing cost estimation and would require further consideration and discussion during the detailed design stage. From this, an outline budget estimate has been generated for the project, contained in Appendix K. | ||||
6.03 |
The budget for the new station is estimated to be around £2.3m at current prices. (4Q01- fourth quarter 2001.) A range of +/- £100,000 should be anticipated on this figure, due to the approximations and uncertainties still present at this feasibility stage. A more accurate cost estimate could be provided once a scheme has been developed and more detailed design work carried out. | ||||
Projected inflation figures are not available as far ahead as 1Q04; however, an inflation estimate based on figures to 2Q03 gives a projected cost of around £2.5m at the time of tender, currently programmed to be January 2004.(Appendix L). Similarly, a range of +/- £100,000 should be anticipated for this projected estimate. | |||||
These figures do not include fees, fit-out or any costs that may arise from the legal boundary issues described in para 3.05. | |||||
6.04 |
By comparison to the recent actual cost of St Mary's Fire Station, Southampton, the budget estimate is significantly higher for this proposal. This difference can be attributed to a number of factors, as follows: | ||||
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overall size of site, increases proportionate costs of drill yard, drainage and landscaping (Chineham site 50% bigger than St Mary's, 4835m² vs 3200m²) | ||||
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resolution of existing site levels | ||||
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exposure of site, with long site boundary requiring security fence | ||||
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`isolation' of the site, increasing cost of connection to utilities | ||||
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allowance has been made for an enhancement of the building cost | ||||
6.05 |
As noted above in para 5.05, Option 4 is the one site layout presented that could be workable without the use of the additional land of the reduced visibility splay. In conjunction with a reduced site boundary to the south-east, by fencing only what is actually `occupied' rather than the full extent of the legal boundary, this amended option would offer a smaller site area and, therefore, a saving of £50-60k. | ||||
7.00 |
Programme | ||||
7.01 |
It is understood that a start on site for the construction of the fire station is anticipated for April 2004, based on a forecast of the possible HFRS capital programme. Appendix L shows a draft outline master programme, using this start on site date as a generator of the preceding design period. | ||||
7.02 |
As can be seen from the Programme, there is over a year between the current feasibility stage and early 2003 when the design development would need to be restarted. Whilst the cost forecasts of Section 6.00 have taken inflation over this extended period into account, it is recommended that the design is not developed too far in advance of when the project delivery is scheduled. This ensures movement in the construction industry market can be taken into account at scheme design stage, together with any developments in the brief and the adjoining highway works. It should be noted, however, that the current Outline Planning Permission requires Application for Approval of Reserved Matters by 27 July 2003. | ||||
The intervening months can be used to resolve the issues of land ownership and site access with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. | |||||
8.00 |
Design Team | ||||
8.01 |
HCC Property, Business and Regulatory Services are currently appointed to provide the following design services at feasibility stage: | ||||
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architect | ||||
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structural engineering | ||||
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mechanical and electrical engineering | ||||
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quantity surveying | ||||
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planning supervisor | ||||
If the project were to proceed and this appointment were to be extended, it is recommended that consideration be given to formalising an appointment for highways consultancy/design matters. | |||||
9.00 |
Health and Safety | ||||
9.01 |
Appendix M contains a number of Risk Assessments, both for aspects of design and for certain construction activities, as follows: | ||||
Site entry and exit for fire appliances and other vehicles | |||||
Visibility splay on bend of Shetland Road | |||||
Existing services | |||||
Training operations within drill yard | |||||
Construction stage site security | |||||
Construction stage vehicle manoeuvres on/off site | |||||
Construction within visibility splays | |||||
Previous land use as rifle range | |||||
It should be noted that design Option 5, whilst preferred for other valid design and operational reasons, has some remaining hazards (site exit position and construction within visibility splay) which, if they cannot be eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels, may preclude the selection of this site layout option. | |||||
10.00 |
Summary | ||||
10.01 |
The principal findings of this feasibility study can be summarised as follows: | ||||
The site is sufficiently large to take the 4-pump fire station as briefed, albeit relatively narrow, with the position of the building open to a number of options. | |||||
Combined with level differences across the site and a number of other factors, this narrowness limits the options for site access. | |||||
All resulting options for site access present relatively tight vehicle manoeuvres on site. | |||||
The legal extent of the surrounding highway verge is unclear. Clarification and formal agreement will be required with the local authority and the County Council on this matter - there is the potential for the site to be landlocked by a `ransom' strip. | |||||
It may be desirable to obtain a similar legal agreement for a reduced visibility splay on the bend of Shetland Road, releasing space at a particularly narrow part of the site. | |||||
The outline budget estimate for the new fire station is around £2.3m at today's prices, rising to £2.5m for April 2004. A range of +/- £100,000 should be anticipated on this figure, due to the approximations and uncertainties still present at this feasibility stage. | |||||
At 50% greater area than the St Mary's site, the size of the site is one of a number of factors causing the cost of this development to be relatively high. | |||||
There is the potential to make some cost reductions by progressing a design option that minimises the area of the site developed, although this will require an on-site u-turn by fire appliances and may restrict parking numbers to less than the current brief. | |||||
Dir-fin HFRA FGP 24 10 01 New Fire Station Chineham