Despite backing a campaign to save Windsor's fire station Queen will have to witness it being razed for luxury flats

SS
15 Apr 2014

Despite backing a campaign to save Windsor's fire station Queen will have to witness it being razed for luxury flats

  • Windsor's fire station to be sold and turned into luxurious housing
  • Developers were 'inundated' with emails from interested buyers after initial advert for the project was published
  • Royal Berkshire Fire Service to make over £4million in the sale
  • Queen backed campaign to save station, which is half a mile from castle

Plans to sell Windsor's fire station for housing are now going ahead with an initial advert attracting overwhelming interest.

The current fire station on St Mark's Road, half a mile from the castle, is being replaced by one two-and-a-half miles away, on the western edge of the town.

Henry Swailes, development surveyor at Kemp and Kemp estate agents who is handling the sale, says: 'It's going to be a very popular site, in a central residential location less than a mile from both the town's rail stations.


The Windsor Castle fire in November 1992. Royal Berkshire Fire Service stands to make more than £4million in the sale of Windsor fire station

The Windsor Castle fire in November 1992. Royal Berkshire Fire Service stands to make more than £4million in the sale of Windsor fire station

'We have been inundated with emails since the advert was published.

'A price hasn't been set but we would expect it to be at least £4.5 million. Unconditional bids' are being sought from interested parties.'

Royal Berkshire Fire Service stands to make more than £4m as the new station will cost £400,000 to build and the land is being given by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

The Queen is understood to have sent letters of support to a campaign against the sale of the fire station

The Queen is understood to have sent letters of support to a campaign against the sale of the fire station

Initially, there were plans to remove the town's fire station entirely or reduce cover to 12 hours each day due to budget cuts.

But Royal Berkshire Fire Service backed down after an outcry from celebrities including Sir Michael Parkinson, Sir Elton John and golfer Nick Faldo and legal action by the local council.

Campaigners had the apparent backing of the Royal Family despite its usual refusal to get involved in political controversy.

The Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of York sent letters of support.

The fire service says the location of the new station, which will have one engine and be staffed 24 hours, 'will not affect attendance times' to the castle, which suffered £40 million of damage in 1992 after a devastating blaze.

'We have a target time of 10 minutes for the first pump to attend a fire and 12 minutes for a second.

'The new location would still allow us to meet the target,' a spokeswoman says.

Mr Swailes says the land could be redeveloped for up to 12 houses or 20 flats.



Source:

  1. Daily Mail

This website uses cookies

Like most websites, this site uses cookies. Some are required to make it work, while others are used for statistical or marketing purposes. If you choose not to allow cookies some features may not be available, such as content from other websites. Please read our Cookie Policy for more information.

Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the website to function properly.
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.
Marketing cookies are used by third parties or publishers to display personalized advertisements. They do this by tracking visitors across websites.