Police and fire service celebrate milestone for new Redditch hub

The £17.6m development on Middlehouse Lane is due to open in 2024 and will see West Mercia Police and Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) brought under one roof so they can work more closely together.

Dignitaries from the emergency services visited the site to celebrate the final beam being placed into the structure of the building.

Dignitaries came together to mark the milestone (Image: NQ)

West Mercia Police Chief Constable Pippa Mills said: “It’s a really exciting development right in the heart of Redditch with a new police and fire station for the community that’s well overdue.

“There’s been some challenges like with any project of this size, but we’ve absolutely got the right team working on it and it’s been great to come today and support them.”

The current police station, on Archer Road, is being demolished to make way for a new Digital Manufacturing and Innovation Centre as part of the £15.6m Town Investment plan for regenerating the town centre.

The staff will temporarily move into the Kingfisher Shopping Centre whilst work is being completed on the hub which will offer a new accommodation unit for on-call officers and training facilities.

The final beam of the structure is now in place (Image: NQ)

HWFRS Chief Fire Officer Jon Pryce said: “Being able to work much more closely with our police colleagues is better for the community all around and by having a more state-of-the-art and modern facility we will hopefully be able to attract more people to work here which helps to improve our availability.”

Leader of Redditch Borough Council Matt Dormer, who is also an on-call firefighter, added: “The station that I’ve been part of for the past 28 years has been desperate for some TLC so this new site will really put Redditch back on the map from a station perspective. It’s just really great.”