Fire Station Closures

 

When a fire breaks out in your street the immediate appearance of the Fire Brigade is essential – it could be your house and your furniture. Parkhead and Cambuslang Fire Stations are expected to close by the end of next year and be replaced with a £5 million state-of-the-art community fire station to be built on land at Clydesmill Industrial Site near Cambuslang. Strathclyde Fire and Rescue bought the land recently for £30 million and intend building a new fire station and training centre. The decision to close the two stations followed an 18-month review and the service’s board judged both facilities required serious repair and refurbishment. The report concluded it would be cheaper to build one new station to incorporate Parkhead and Cambuslang fire stations.

To refurbish both would have cost over £2million. There are 28 firefighters and one appliance at Parkhead, 56 firefighters and two appliances at Cambuslang. The new station will have up to 60 firefighters and two appliances and 24 firefighters will lose their jobs. However, they will have the opportunity to apply for jobs in the operations centre as community firefighters. The Board’s Convener, Councillor Brian Wallace, said: ‘The new fire station will play a vital role for Cambuslang and Parkhead that the existing fire stations simply can’t fulfil. Strathclyde Fire and Rescue is determined to have an ‘open door’ policy that welcomes the public into its community fire stations. The new fire station will meet these aims. It will have all the facilities, including disabled access, necessary for providing community safety training and it will also provide meeting rooms for community groups. The new fire station would be built on an ideal site close to the M74 motorway which by 2011 is due to be extended to link with the Kingston Bridge.’Brian Sweeney, Chief Officer of Strathclyde Fire & Rescue, said: ‘The merger of Parkhead and Cambuslang fire stations will have no adverse effect on our response to fires and other incidents in those communities. There will be no reduction in the number of firefighters that attend incidents and we will be able to reach all areas promptly and efficiently.’ Cambuslang Station Master, Hugh Strachan said: ‘I’m delighted that the merger is going ahead and will provide a similar response team to what we have. The current station is 38-years-old and it’s getting to the end of its shelf life. The type of training facilities we require can’t be provided in Cambuslang, and by merging with Parkhead a state-of-the-art station will give us a better facility. ‘The board looked at the grounds available around the current fire station but it’s just not big enough to hold both a fire station and a facility needed for regular training. The announcement of the new project means a massive investment into Cambuslang from Strathclyde Fire & Rescue.’ However, there is a lot of opposition to from staff, elected representatives and the local community over the proposed amalgamation.

Sandra White Glasgow MSP said: I’m very disappointed by this decision to close these fires stations which is a risky move. Because there will be less fire people and less fire engines which will result in longer response times. ‘Station staff are worried about their future. There was no proper consultation done and they did mot even consider the hundreds of objections that were made against the closures. It was a done deal and was a bad decision.’ Frank McAveety Shettleston MSP said: ‘This is a disastrous decision for the East Enders. I have lodged my objections about the merger and hope the board will reconsider their proposals. There has also been very little consultation about how these changes will affect the local community. Because there will definitely be longer response times with fewer fire engines and staff. Me and Margaret Curran MSP for Baillieston were refused permission to enter the station by Brian Wallace, North Lanarkshire Councillor and Convener for Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Board, on the grounds that we were rabble rousers. So we had to meet the fire fighters outside the station.’  John McFadden, Brigade Treasurer & Campaign Coordinator for the Strathclyde Fire Brigades Union said: ‘The evidence to show that Parkhead Fire Station must remain open is overwhelming. It is the busiest single appliance Fire Station in Scotland and covers some of the poorest & most needy Communities in the UK.

The Communities continue to record some of the highest fatality & casualty rates in Scotland. It is clear that those Communities need their Fire Station.’

Ken Ross, Scottish Regional Secretary for the Fire Brigades Union said: ‘The members of the Board made the decision to close the station based on a Consultation Report that was weighted towards the management proposals and which disregarded the plethora of submissions opposing the closure. It was highly manipulated resulting in a decision that was in no way balanced or fully informed.

The motivation by management to close the station is nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with saving money and reducing front line jobs. Closing it in order to generate money to help pay for a new training centre is entirely unacceptable.

By closing the stations they will save £30million and that will be used towards the new fire station.