A PUBLIC meeting to discuss the rebuilding of the fire service headquarters in Ipswich will be held later this month.Suffolk County Council submitted plans in November last year to knock down the existing and now empty building in Colchester Road and replace it with a new structure.

A PUBLIC meeting to discuss the rebuilding of the fire service headquarters in Ipswich will be held later this month.

Suffolk County Council submitted plans in November last year to knock down the existing and now empty building in Colchester Road and replace it with a new structure.

The building has been redundant since senior fire officials moved into the county council's base at Endeavour House last year.

The control room is expected to be replaced by a regional control room within a few years and once that has moved, the site will be able to be redeveloped as a large fire station serving north and east Ipswich.

A meeting on the issue will be held at Ransomes Sports and Social Club in Sidegate Avenue on January 16 at 7pm.

Rushmere councillor Eileen Smith has organised the meeting, which will be attended by representatives from Suffolk County Council and Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service.

She said: “There are questions people living in the area want answered. It's a huge site, after all.

“One of the concerns is the smoke training tower, which is going to perhaps be repositioned.

“But until we hold the meeting, we don't know what residents will want to find out about.”

The potential development at Colchester Road is one of a number of projects which the county council is embarking on in relation to the fire service.

There are proposals to build a new fire station at Yarmouth Road and a new countywide training centre in Great Blakenham.

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