New Waterford City Fire Station to begin construction within weeks

Fine Gael Waterford Deputy Paudie Coffey has said that the construction of the new Waterford City Fire Station will begin in the coming weeks. Deputy Coffey received confirmation of this from the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government Phil Hogan TD by way of a Parliamentary Question, who informed him that initial funding of €2 million has been allocated for this project.

I have had confirmation from the City Council and from Minister Hogan that tenders have been invited for the New City Fire Station and following completion of all procurement processes; the City Council hope to be in a position to commence works on site in late August or early September 2013.

“The proposals for a new Fire Station have been promised for a long time and plans for a new station were initially approved in 2006; however it has taken until now to get the project started on the ground. The current Fire Station is currently located on Catherine St in Waterford City which is not a fit for purpose location to be able to provide an up to date and modern emergency service for the people of Waterford City.

“The new site that is to be located on the Kilbarry Rd in the City will mean that the new Fire Station will be situated more appropriately with state of the art facilities. It should be pointed out that emergency services that are currently being delivered on a daily basis by the dedicated and heroic staff at Catherine St will remain there until the new station is complete.

“This is a significant capital investment by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government and when completed, it will allow for the extension and refurbishment of Waterford City Court House as both currently are located on the same site. This will have a further positive impact on our City’s economy when it is complete.

“This project is long overdue and it is unfortunate that it has taken until now when the country is financially running a deficit of €250 million a week to get the project off the ground, the people of Waterford have waited 7 years for this new project to tangibly begin. It is pity that previous governments did not see this project as a priority in times of plenty and the current Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government Phil Hogan TD should be commended for ensuring that this shovel ready project began as quickly as possible.”