Chorley fire training centre primed for redevelopment

A long-held ambition to relocate Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s headquarters from Fulwood is part of plans to overhaul the leadership and development centre at Euxton.

Plans for the redevelopment of the facility are now lodged with Chorley Council in a project where the service is working with Equilibrium Architects.

Around 200 staff will be based at the site, with around 50 trainees per day also using the facilities.

The professional team includes planner Plan A, IGE Consulting, LK Group, Lowther Forestry, SCP, and Trevor Bridge Associates.

As Equilibrium explains in its design & access statement, the outline application covers plans for new buildings and demolition of some existing buildings as the overall site is reorganised.

Furthermore, where previous development proposals were mainly restricted to the central part of the site, an overall masterplan is now put forward, including an HQ building.

At present, buildings on site total around 84,000 sq ft. Around 26,000 sq ft of that total is in line to come down. There will be 109,000 sq ft of new development, as set out in planning documents.

The LDC site has been used to train firefighters since 1946, after being acquired from the American air force.

Accessed from West Way, the site is still largely set out as in the 1940s, with most development since occurring on an ad hoc basis. However, in 2011 an over-arching masterplan was introduced, giving an over-arching view of proposals, also taking into consideration its Green Belt location.

The most recent planning applications came in 2022, with a fleet garage extension and a breathing apparatus school.

Although a new HQ building was accounted for in the 2011 masterplan, it has not been taken forward, until now. The demolition of Lancaster House will open up the centre of the site, enabling the construction of a new service HQ building, Equilibrium said.

Broadly, the site will be split into three zones: the eastern ‘dirty’ zone, where dirt/smoke-generating activities and training props will be based; the ‘semi clean’ central area – where Lancaster House is, along with a pond and a drill area; and the ‘clean’ western one, where the new HQ will be.

Training props to ne included in the eastern zone include terraced housing and a multi-storey apartment block, along with training galleries.

Although the whole of the site is within the Green Belt, most of the land within the boundary is classed as ‘previously developed’ under which various types of development are supported in Chorley’s Local Plan.

More detailed plans will follow in a reserved matters application. The plans as set out in the outline application can be viewed on Chorley’s planning portal with the reference 25/00357/OUTMAJ.