An artist’s impression of the Acton Fire Station. Image: ACT Government.
Construction of the $40 million Acton Emergency Services Station in central Canberra has started and is expected to open late in 2024, a year later than first thought.
Minister for Police and Emergency Services Mick Gentleman and acting ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) Commissioner Jason Jones will join ACT Ambulance Service and ACT Fire and Rescue staff at a smoking ceremony on site on Monday (14 August) to mark the beginning of construction.
Mr Gentleman said the facility, on the corner of Parkes Way and Clunies Ross Street in Acton, would ensure the ACT’s growing community had appropriate access to emergency services.
It would also provide emergency services staff with the most up-to-date infrastructure to support their work and wellbeing.
“Today is a milestone, not only for emergency services and those living in and around central Canberra, but also for the wider Canberra community,” Mr Gentleman said.
“This new and innovative station will provide accommodation for firefighters and paramedics and help ensure they have the resources and support they need to manage the growing demands on their services.”
Acting Commissioner Jones said the new station would provide services to the community from both ambulance and fire services.
“The central location will also help ensure that our emergency services maintain and improve emergency response time to keep our growing city safe,” he said.
The construction of the Acton station is expected to be completed at the end of 2024.
When the project was announced in 2020, it was expected to be completed in the 2022-23 financial year and house two paramedic crews and two fire and rescue crews.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said then that it would primarily service the city and inner north, but could provide backup to surrounding regions such as the Molonglo Valley, which will not have a station until the 2025-26 financial year.
This year’s budget set aside $66 million for the new Molonglo facility, to be sited in Duffy on the corner of Cotter Road and John Gorton Drive.
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