Joint police and fire headquarters in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, a step nearer

An ambitious project to create a new combined police and fire headquarters in Nottinghamshire is moving full steam ahead.

On Friday, members of the Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire Authority agreed to sign up to a new legal partnership for the new joint headquarters, which will be located at Sherwood Lodge in Arnold.

The move is intended to result in financial savings to both the police and fire authorities and improve operational efficiency.

Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping, welcomed the move, saying: “This is a huge leap forward and brings us even closer to realising our ambitions for a new state-of-the-art base for these two forward-thinking organisations.

“Now that an agreement to develop a legal framework is in place, the real work can begin to design these exciting new facilities and cementing the strong partnership that already exists to improve our blue light services and increase our impact on public safety in the future.”

Chairman of the fire authority, Mr Brian Grocock, said: “These new headquarters will act as a catalyst for a more effective exchange of information, which will ultimately benefit both the communities that our organisations serve, as well as our employees.”

A number of sites were considered and Sherwood Lodge was chosen because of the good road network, allowing access across Nottinghamshire.

The project will see the modification and refurbishment of existing buildings, alongside some new-build construction. Among the new facilities will be a police control room, a joint multi-agency incident command room and a new training facility, relocating the police training centre from the current Watnall and Hucknall sites.

A tendering process to appoint a contractor is to be launched in October, with construction and refurbishment work to begin as early as March next year.

Subject to planning approval, work on the new headquarters is expected to be completed in mid to late 2021.

The proposals will see the current fire HQ at Bestwood Lodge decommissioned and sold.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford described the initiative as a ‘fantastic opportunity for us to work together...to provide an even better service to the public’.

He added: “There will be huge benefits to the public from a joint HQ when tackling community safety and prevention issues.”

The move is part of a drive by emergency services organisations nationally to work more closely together.