Priority Two
Respond to the post COVID world by reconfiguring the office and training estate
Why do we need to do this?
Members of corporate teams, and uniformed officers that don’t work at fire stations have worked flexibly from home since the start of the pandemic. We want to encourage everyone that can, to balance working from home and from different office spaces, in a way which best meets our business needs and their personal preferences.
The site at Maidstone which contains the fire station, technical rescue team, our distribution centre and training centre is surrounded by housing. The buildings were primarily built in the 1970s. Maidstone fire station uses space poorly considering how we now work. It is also one of our more expensive buildings to run as it wastes heat.
Firefighters need realistic training facilities. Our training facilities which simulate building fires at Maidstone are harder and more expensive to maintain due to their age. Training Centre does not provide the inclusive, immersive training experience we want. We are investing in brand new live fire training facilities at Ashford fire station.