Avon and Somerset Police Authority and Constabulary have secured approval from the Home Office and HM Treasury to appoint Blue Light Partnership consortium for a £129 million ($203.3 million) PFI building contract.
Led by Bilfinger Berger Project Investments and comprising Miller Construction and Cofely, the consortium will design, build, finance and operate a new operational base, two custody and crime investigation centres, two police stations and a tri-force firearms training centre.
The two custody and crime investigation centres are constructed at 90 Gloucester Road, Patchway, and Ashmead Road, Keynsham. The tri-force firearms training centre will be located at Black Rock Quarry, Portishead, near to Police Headquarters.
The new facility will serve the police forces of Avon and Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire and enable officers to be trained to the same standard and promote greater coordination and deployment across the three forces.
Planning Applications for each of the four proposed developments will be submitted in February 2012. Construction will commence in September 2012, with the first building completed in January 2014 and the last in March 2014.
The Blue Light Partnership will then be responsible for delivering facilities management services once the buildings are completed.