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Warwickshire fire service changes could put local lives at risk
07/03/2024
Fire stations in Gaydon and Fenny Compton could be left without crews
Lives in our area could be put at risk if proposed changes to the fire and rescue service in Warwickshire go ahead. That’s according to Sean Woodcock, Labour’s Candidate for the Banbury constituency at the General Election.
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service is currently consulting on changes to its service delivery model. They say the aim is to allocate their resources to busier daytime hours and reduce over capacity at other times. The plan also seeks to address a shortage of on-call firefighters.
The new model would introduce “surge teams” at a number of stations, who could be called in when the Service overall in the county is stretched. But for the majority of the time these stations would be unmanned with crews from other stations dealing with calls. Other stations would only be crewed in the daytime and evening, leaving only a small number of key fire stations crewed 24-hours a day.
Existing stations close to Banbury at Gaydon and Fenny Compton would move to being used only when needed by the “surge team”. Two options are provided at Shipston, which could either be a “surge team” station, or crewed during peak demand times.
Currently Oxfordshire fire fighters work in a reciprocal arrangement across the border with their colleagues in South Warwickshire, if needed. The fear is that a lack of resource in Warwickshire could lead to crews from Banbury dealing with more issues across the border, leaving our area with less emergency cover.
Sean Woodcock said: “These proposals have the potential to cost lives. People in Banbury could be left stranded and waiting while in need of emergency assistance because of these cuts.
“While government funding for councils has been left in a mess, they should not be contemplating savings that put people at risk like this. It is simply unacceptable and another symptom of how 14 years of the Conservatives has left us all less safe.”
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service is run by Warwickshire County Council who insist that they have no plans to close fire stations and say the proposals are not about saving money.
Joe Rukin is a local campaigner from Kenilworth who has been encouraging people to have their say in the consultation. He disagrees: “To say this proposal is not about closing seven fire stations is an insult to everyone’s intelligence. They say it’s about changing working patterns, but it’s about going from a working pattern were firefighters work at seven fire stations, to a working pattern were firefighters don’t work at those fire stations!!
“The County Council predict these replacement surge teams would only be used 4 times every 5 years, so they are saying they will go from having stations which respond to hundreds of call-outs every year, and changing them into garages where fire engines are parked and might get used once a year, and they seriously want us to think that doesn’t count as closure?
“The whole thing is a complete mess.”
The consultation on the changes closes this Sunday (March 10).
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam