A Nottinghamshire council leader has voiced ‘extreme concern’ over cuts to fire services. Councillor Simon Robinson, leader of Rushcliffe Borough Council, has criticised Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Authority’s current plans as part of its Futures 2025 Efficiency Strategy that could see a reduction in services from its West Bridgford station.
Councillor Robinson said the borough's population was growing 'significantly' with developers building the most new homes of anywhere in the East Midlands and said the area had the second longest appliance fire response attendance time in the county due to its size. Current plans would leave West Bridgford station with solely day cover, leading to an expected increase in night response times by 43 seconds - the station is already significantly above the service’s eight-minute target.
Councillor Robinson said: “We appreciate that it is a difficult financial time and the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Authority have done much to reduce the costs and work within a tight financial envelope. We’re also grateful of the exceptional work of Notts Fire and Rescue as they continue to educate and reduce the incidents of serious fire.
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“However we are extremely concerned and unhappy about the proposed reduction of service in Rushcliffe at Loughborough Road Fire Station in West Bridgford, whilst aware there is proposed increase in Ashfield. In addition, the reduction of service from Loughborough Road is exacerbated by the reduction of services at the nearby London Road Fire Station in the city.
“There is significant housing growth in Rushcliffe and so the population base continues to rise. We are a large borough with major A roads and many rural roads and I know that a significant amount of the service’s response is attending road traffic collisions.
“The proposed impact on first appliance attendance time is exceptionally worrying and as Rushcliffe residents currently have the second longest first appliance attendance time in the county, the proposed changes will see an average 43 second increase in response. This is not reflected in a similar impact in other parts of the county.
“We have therefore put on record Rushcliffe Borough Council’s opposition to the proposals and asked the service reconsider its plans to ensure that residents here in Rushcliffe are treated fairly and respectfully as part of this review.”
Cabinet portfolio holder for environment and safety at Rushcliffe Borough Council, Councillor Rob Inglis, has written to the Chair of the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Authority ,Councillor Michael Payne, and Chief fire officer Craig Parkin to outline his unhappiness at the proposals. Chief fire officer Craig Parkin previously said the proposals were the "least worst" option available to the service.
"We have limited resources and my job is to deal with the most vulnerable and those, on the information I have, are not in West Bridgford," Mr Parkin said. Do I think cuts will further endanger lives? It's too simplistic to say that. Will time of response matter? It might on some occasions and might make no difference on other occasions because people were already dead when we got there.
"What I do know is that if you ring 999 we will come immediately. It might not be coming from Bridgford today, because they might be on a training course up in Ollerton. People don't understand that fire engines don't just sit there, they only do if they're not busy, and I expect them to be busy every day."
However, Mr Parkin said West Bridgford residents should be reassured. "I think there is more than enough capacity [at London Road] to absorb what is coming from West Bridgford. They have very few incidents in West Bridgford at all, and that is generally because they're so low risk because of the amount of affluence and the social economic demographic in the area."
Mr Parkin explained cuts in funding were due to the fact fire services were low down on the government's agenda. A 12-week public consultation on the changes will begin on Wednesday, September 28, with a final decision to be made in February 2023.
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