Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Hato Hone St John, and Selwyn District Council have signed a memorandum of understanding to look into a potential emergency services campus in Rolleston.
The location tipped for the campus is the back of Helpet Park on Lincoln Rolleston Rd.
The campus would have a police station, fire station, ambulance station and space for civil defence emergency management along with shared services.
If the emergency campus plan progresses, it is expected it would mean a shift for the fire station on Brookside Rd and the ambulance station on Kidman St.
Police Association president Chris Cahill said he was “shocked” at how small the Tennyson St station was when he first visited a number of years ago.
“It is definitely not fit for purpose anymore and the sooner something else is developed the better and this looks like a really good option.”
The Helpet site was chosen for its good transport connections allowing quick response times, and has enough land for all the emergency services with room for future growth and expansion.
Along with providing the land, the council is funding the feasibility study.
Said district council executive director development and growth Robert Love: “As council is not building the campus it does not require rates to fund it. Council’s contribution will be through funding the initial feasibility of the project, which has been allocated out of existing budgets set up to allow for the feasibility of projects to be assessed.”
Council head of emergency management Al Lawn said the campus provides an exciting opportunity.
“Having all these services on one site has been shown around the world to improve co-ordination and response to emergencies.”
Cahill said he was supportive of the idea but only if the new facility was fit for purpose.
“Given the cost of building, having a multi-purpose venue makes sense for community but obviously with the proviso that’s it’s fit for all those organisations.
“If you start to compromise then you end up with something that doesn’t work for anyone.”
Rolleston Volunteer Fire Brigade chief Marty Tier said once the flyover opens, the possible new campus location would provide a more direct route to the Izone.
The council is also expected to bring forward a project to extend Broadlands Drive and connect it via roundabout to Branthwaite Drive at a budgeted cost of $4.5 million.
Along with talking to affected neighbours, the parties involved will continue to work together over the coming months with an aim to develop a plan and timeline for the campus.
