Councillor Meirick Lloyd Davies, Chair of the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority, officially opened the Nefyn Fire and Police Station yesterday evening (Tuesday 9^th June).

The joint station, sited on Ffordd Dewi Sant, Nefyn, is a fully operational fire and police station.

Work began on this project back in April 2014 and this investment has upgraded the facilities at the previous fire station on Well Street that had been operational on the same site since the 1920s.

Simon Smith, Chief Fire Officer, said: "The previous fire station at Nefyn was an old building in great need of upgrading. Today we work more closely with our partners in the police, therefore it made clear sense for both police and fire and rescue service staff to operate from the same building.

"We have tried and tested the co-location of our staff on previous occasions, including at our Joint Communications Centre in St Asaph, and our relationship has always been very successful. We look forward to building on this relationship as well as on other collaboration opportunities both here in Nefyn and in other locations in the future.

"The  project has involved a substantial investment on behalf of the fire and rescue service and demonstrates our commitment to our firefighters and to the local community."

The building works were carried out by P T Griffiths. The fire station now includes a muster bay, a drying room, a kit room and a breathing apparatus workroom and a watch office. The police will have an office and an interview room, and both organisations will now share male, female and disabled toilets, shower facilities, a lecture room, a kitchen, and a gym.

The new station is accessible to everyone in the community and complies with the access requirements of Equality Act 2010. The whole building features a modern management gas heating system as well as a fire sprinkler system. It is also an eco-friendly station with a rain water harvesting system installed to recycle water for use in the toilets.

Councillor Meirick Lloyd Davies, Chair of North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Both organisations deliver a wide range of services which require the building to have the most up to date facilities for the personnel working from it. This purpose built building provides an excellent facility, not only to help support the training of firefighters to tackle incidents, but also to deliver the diverse education and prevention schemes that are operated here in North Wales by both organisations."

District Inspector for Gwynedd South, Dewi Jones, said: "North Wales Police is delighted to be a part of this shared facility.

"We can only be successful in preventing crime by working closely with our partners, and the joint location of public services is a positive step forward, given the financial constraints facing the organisations.

"It will enable us to maintain a strong community policing presence in Nefyn."

Julian Sandham, the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, added: "We already have a close working relationship with the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service so, wherever possible, shared facilities make perfect sense at a time when budgets are tight.

"Having new, state-of-the-art premises also means that officers and staff have a better working environment which can only be of benefit in providing the best possible service to the local community.

"Through innovative collaboration like this, we can continue to provide enhanced policing to communities across North Wales and reduce costs at the same time."