 Site Records
Site Name: Horsham District Council Emergency Centre
Park North
North Street
Horsham
West Sussex
RH12 1RL
RSG site visit 21st August 2001
The Horsham District Council Emergency Centre (Also the the West Sussex
County Standby) located in the basement of a 1984 brick council block
opposite the Town Hall. It was built with the aid of an 80% Home Office
grant and like its neighbour at Crawley is still fully operational holding
regular exercises; it is also used by council staff for IT training
for. A flight of steps from the covered car park gives access to a heavy
steel and concrete blast door beyond which is a second blast door forming
an airlock. This is described on the official plan as a decontamination
area but there is no shower. A third heavy blast door is located within
the airlock giving access to the standby generator which has only a
few hours on the clock. At the rear of the room a small blast door on
the wall gives access to a small filter room.
Beyond the airlock is a very short corridor with yet another blast
door at the far end, this is one of two emergency exits back into the
underground car park. On the left hand side of the corridor are two
rooms, the former dormitory now stripped and used for storage and the
ventilation plant room with one pump and filter unit and yet another
small blast door in the rear wall leading to another small filter room.
On the other side of the corridor a door leads into
the control room with tables, chairs, audio visual equipment and wall
maps and charts. To make the room seem more 'homely', all the maps
are covered by patterned curtains as are the corridors and stairs
hiding the plain white walls. Four rooms are accessed from the control
room, on the far side a small room (originally the first aid room)
houses the SX50 ECN unit and the second emergency exit into the underground
car park through a five foot high blast door.
Other rooms are the 'L' shaped unisex toilet, small
but functional kitchen, controllers room and the communications room
with acoustic booths along two walls. Two licensed amateur radio operators
help provide the emergency communications network and as back up CB
radio is used with repeater stations giving a range almost to the
south coast. When fully manned up to 22 people might be in the bunker.
Those taking part in the visit were
Nick Catford, Keith Ward and Bob Jenner.
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Last updated 21st August 2004
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