Official opening of the new Kensington Community Fire Station (in Fairfield)

I was delighted this afternoon to be at the opening of the new Kensington Community Fire Station on Beech Street. (Technically it is in Fairfield, as it is to the East of Beech Street, rather than the West, but we wont split hairs, it replaces the old Kensington Fire Station at Low Hill so it makes sense to keep the name).

The new Fire Station is a wonderful building and the gathered guests were thrilled with everything they saw. Opened officially by HRH Duchess of Gloucester (who looked very trim in a lovely purple coat for those royalists amongst you, I don't have a photo unfortunately but you may take my word for it), other guests included the Chair and members of the Fire Authority, Senior Fire Service brass, the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside who was on top form today, great fun as always, representatives from KNDC, local and divisional fire fighters, local residents and a few children of fire fighters who got to play on the appliances later,  as a reward for handing the bouquet over and not being tempted to hold on to it determinedly.

I was particularly interested to see the community space, we had always been under the impression that the community were being offered "a room" but I can report that in fact it is an entire floor, with most impressive facilities (see the three photos below) and a gymnasium (the equipment for which is still being gathered so I did not take a photo of it). Local people/organisations wishing to make use of the facilities need to contact the station to talk about bookings. We dont have a community centre in our area and we are always keen to locate new places where we can hold meetings, I think this will be a resounding success.

I did take the time to talk to some of the local firefighters stationed at the new place and asked in particular how they were managing the traffic and the road formation when they head out on emergencies. I was relieved to hear that no problems have yet been experienced, I was concerned about all the traffic parked along Beech Street, but they said it was okay and apparently they can switch over the traffic lights on Prescot Road/Kensington to enable a swift exit. They all seemed very pleased with their home.
So it is a win-win all round.

Congratulations and well done Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, you have done Kensington and Fairfield proud!