Fire station cuts 'frightening', says councillor
Thursday, 24th March 2011.
Changes to crewing at Haverhill Fire Station were described as 'frightening' by a town councillor this week.
Cllr Maureen Byrne told fellow members of Haverhill Town Council she was 'genuinely concerned' about Suffolk County Council's proposals to change from seven-day-a-week full-time crewing to five-day-a-week.
The county council has included the proposals in a package of money-saving ideas which are out for consultation at present.
Although a public meeting in Haverhill on the issue only attracted six members of the public, Andy Message of the Fire Brigades Union said residents needed to be very careful, because at Felixstowe, where full-time crewing was facing the axe completely, a public meeting drew over 150.
If the council was looking to respond in a popular way it might swap the changes between the two towns, he warned.
Mr Message, who serves at Haverhill Fire Station, said he was certain the changes would affect the town.
The recent fire in a factory in Boundary Road on a Saturday was an example, he told town councillors, who had asked him along to respond to a presentation they had at a recent meeting from the fire service management.
"It was within several minutes of being a very large fire," he said. "This could be the difference between one business and three businesses being destroyed."
He explained the on-call fire crews, who already cover Haverhill in the evenings and at night, take, on average, 4min 16sec longer to turn out.
Cllr Byrne said: "I really fear for the older people in this town who can't get out of a property so quickly," she said. "The cutbacks are quite frightening. What can we do?"
Urged by Mr Message, the council agreed to make a robust response to the consultation, and town clerk Gordon Mussett was instructed to draw up the wording of it.
Mr Message said firefighters' representatives would be in Haverhill town centre on April 23 from 10am to 4pm talking to members of the public and looking for their support in opposing the change.
Cllr Maureen Byrne told fellow members of Haverhill Town Council she was 'genuinely concerned' about Suffolk County Council's proposals to change from seven-day-a-week full-time crewing to five-day-a-week.
The county council has included the proposals in a package of money-saving ideas which are out for consultation at present.
Although a public meeting in Haverhill on the issue only attracted six members of the public, Andy Message of the Fire Brigades Union said residents needed to be very careful, because at Felixstowe, where full-time crewing was facing the axe completely, a public meeting drew over 150.
If the council was looking to respond in a popular way it might swap the changes between the two towns, he warned.
Mr Message, who serves at Haverhill Fire Station, said he was certain the changes would affect the town.
The recent fire in a factory in Boundary Road on a Saturday was an example, he told town councillors, who had asked him along to respond to a presentation they had at a recent meeting from the fire service management.
"It was within several minutes of being a very large fire," he said. "This could be the difference between one business and three businesses being destroyed."
He explained the on-call fire crews, who already cover Haverhill in the evenings and at night, take, on average, 4min 16sec longer to turn out.
Cllr Byrne said: "I really fear for the older people in this town who can't get out of a property so quickly," she said. "The cutbacks are quite frightening. What can we do?"
Urged by Mr Message, the council agreed to make a robust response to the consultation, and town clerk Gordon Mussett was instructed to draw up the wording of it.
Mr Message said firefighters' representatives would be in Haverhill town centre on April 23 from 10am to 4pm talking to members of the public and looking for their support in opposing the change.
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