ESSEX County Fire and Rescue Service is to relocate its headquarters closer to the centre of the county, it has been announced.The base is set to move from Hutton, near Brentwood, to Kelvedon Park, around four miles from Witham, in mid-Essex, and be fully operational by 2011.

By Roddy Ashworth

ESSEX County Fire and Rescue Service is to relocate its headquarters closer to the centre of the county, it has been announced.

The base is set to move from Hutton, near Brentwood, to Kelvedon Park, around four miles from Witham, in mid-Essex, and be fully operational by 2011.

Essex Fire Authority exchanged contracts for the purchase of the new headquarters building last week, with a completion date in early October.

The costs associated with the relocation will be met from the sale of the current headquarters site and the termination of leases for training facilities currently situated in various parts of the county.

Consultation with the 350-staff currently working at the service's headquarters building in Rayleigh Close has already begun in preparation for relocation to the new HQ.

It is hoped that the vast majority of staff will make the move to the new base.

Plans are for a quarter of staff to be in the new building by early 2008, with the remainder to follow as part of a phased move designed to ensure fire service cover remains uninterrupted.

The current headquarters, which also accommodate Essex Fire Control, will remain operating until the transfer of the fire control to a regional 999 centre in 2011.

Kelvedon Park will provide the fire service with an opportunity to develop a training and management centre that will support its ambition of becoming an “excellent” rated service.

The property is being purchased from Flying Flowers Properties, a division of the retail company Flying Brands.

Making the announcement, Essex Fire Authority chairman Simon Walsh said: “We have been searching for some time for a building that will enable the continued development of the service.

“Kelvedon Park provides us with the opportunity to develop a modern and efficient working environment for our support staff, as well as giving us the space we need to develop our training capabilities and expand our already successful community work.

“We have outgrown the headquarters building at Hutton and we have a number of activities operating at disparate sites throughout the county.

“The new headquarters building will make us more effective and more efficient in achieving our strategic aim - doing more than we have ever done to keep Essex safer.”