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BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
St Asaph bird nest halts clearance for fire training site
A nest of birds has temporarily held up initial site clearance for a proposed £37m fire and rescue training centre in north presence of little ringed plovers, a protected species, has been confirmed in the area of the proposed site at St Asaph Business Park in Denbighshire. It is thought this could delay work by several weeks with the situation monitored daily, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The scheme, still in its early stages, was previously hampered by the presence of great crested newts at the site. It was while looking into the newts issue that the nesting birds, known for their distinctive black and white head pattern, were found. It is illegal to intentionally or recklessly disturb any wild bird while nesting or building its nest. On Monday, members of the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority heard how quiet, manual work would be permitted in the northern part of the site, but access and any machinery-based activity was prohibited until the birds October 2024 members gave their "in-principle approval" business case for a new, purpose-built training centre at St Asaph Business chief fire officer Justin Evans presented the proposal, emphasising that the current facilities were "outdated" and did not meet the standards required for modern firefighter proposed centre would feature classrooms, an incident command suite, breathing apparatus, decontamination facilities, realistic fire and road traffic collision training zones, and dedicated space for multi-agency Evans told Monday's meeting the training centre project "continued at pace", and was "on track" to start construction in 2027.
North Wales Live
4 days ago
- General
- North Wales Live
Nesting birds delay work on multi-million pound training centre project
A nest of birds has temporarily held up initial site clearance for a proposed £37m fire and rescue training centre in North Wales. The presence of little ringed plovers, a protected species, has been confirmed in the area of the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service's [NWFRS] proposed site at St Asaph Business Park. It is thought this could delay work by several weeks and the situation is being monitored daily. The scheme, still in its early phase, was previously hampered by the presence of great crested newts at the site. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox It was while looking into the newts issue that the nesting birds were found. The little ringed plover has a distinctive black and white head pattern. It is similar to a ringed plover described by the RSPB as a "small, dumpy, short-legged wading bird" - but smaller. It is illegal to intentionally or recklessly disturb any wild bird in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 "while it is building a nest or is in, on or near a nest containing eggs or young; or to disturb dependent young of such a bird". The matter was discussed during a meeting of the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority on Monday, July 21. Members heard how quiet, manual work would be permitted in the northern part of the site, but access and any machinery-based activity was prohibited until the birds fledged. In October 2024, the members had given their "in-principle approval" to a business case for a new, purpose-built training centre at St Asaph Business Park. Assistant Chief Fire Officer Justin Evans had presented the proposal, emphasising that the current facilities were "outdated" and not meeting the standards required for modern firefighter training. The proposed centre would feature classrooms, an incident command suite, breathing apparatus, decontamination facilities, realistic fire and road traffic collision training zones, and dedicated space for multi-agency exercises. ACFO Evans told Monday's meeting that the training centre project "continued at pace". Recent activity had focused on procurement, stakeholder communications, design development, technical surveys, ecology and developing fully costed options. "Key developments" included completion of a compliant procurement process by the design consultants, contracts with Perfect Circle had been signed, and a core team for the design and build activity confirmed. The formal design process had started, and letters were hand delivered to nearby residents and businesses, advising them over the initial site clearance. The public was also invited to an open information session later this summer. "Work will be commencing in earnest. However, we have had some challenges around ecology," he said. "We've had lots of conversations about great crested newts on site and how we would need to require a licence to undertake work. "It was during preparation for that, the nest of Schedule 1 little ringed plovers was discovered near the proposed access route. "We now must avoid machinery based site clearance until the chicks fledge, likely to be late August. "We can continue with some low impact manual work elsewhere, but this constraint could extend the clearance phase by several weeks, which will see a knock-on for our programme. "We're monitoring this situation daily and we're developing our plan to mitigate any potential delay or seasonal adjustments." Costings for four different build options have included a training centre only, a training centre plus HQ, a training centre plus corporate functions, and a training centre with residential accommodation. "These scenarios will feed into our shortlist and feed directly into the outline business case to ensure affordability and value for money," the fire officer said. "We are on track for a 2027 construction start," he said, but added that the project was "not without risks". "The key risk currently is due to ecology," he said. "Uncertainty" around funding arrangements and "balancing ambitions against potential costs" also remained. It was hoped the design brief would be completed by the end of August and an outline business plan presented by mid-November. A report noted estimated costs of the facility was £37.417m, with an added life cycle cost of £3.820m over a 25-year operational period. J
