St Asaph bird nest halts clearance for fire training site

A nest of birds has temporarily held up initial site clearance for a proposed £37m fire and rescue training centre in north Wales.

The presence of little ringed plovers, a protected species, has been confirmed in the area of the proposed site at St Asaph Business Park in Denbighshire.

It is thought this could delay work by several weeks with the situation monitored daily, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The scheme, still in its early stages, was previously hampered by the presence of great crested newts at the site.

It was while looking into the newts issue that the nesting birds, known for their distinctive black and white head pattern, were found.

It is illegal to intentionally or recklessly disturb any wild bird while nesting or building its nest.

On Monday, members of the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority heard how quiet, manual work would be permitted in the northern part of the site, but access and any machinery-based activity was prohibited until the birds fledged.

In October 2024 members gave their “in-principle approval” business case for a new, purpose-built training centre at St Asaph Business Park.

Assistant chief fire officer Justin Evans presented the proposal, emphasising that the current facilities were “outdated” and did not meet the standards required for modern firefighter training.

The proposed centre would feature classrooms, an incident command suite, breathing apparatus, decontamination facilities, realistic fire and road traffic collision training zones, and dedicated space for multi-agency exercises.

Mr Evans told Monday’s meeting the training centre project “continued at pace”, and was “on track” to start construction in 2027.