Battle to save fire stations continues

A SERIES of public meetings are being held as the fight continues against plans to axe seven fire stations in Warwickshire.

Dozens of firefighters face losing their jobs
under radical proposals put forward by Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service.

If the plans are given the go-ahead, Warwick and Kenilworth stations would close and up to 100 retained firefighters across the county would lose their jobs.

More than 1,500 people have already signed
petitions to save the fire stations, led by Warwick and Leamington MP James Plaskitt, and now a
series of meetings are planned at individual fire
stations in October and November.

Mr Plaskitt said he first became aware of a plan to cut back on fire stations in 2007 and again in July 2008 but was assured there was no threat to Warwick station.

But he added: “Finally, we have been told the truth. The county council have proposed closing Warwick fire station, leaving just one station to cover Warwick, Leamington and Kenilworth.

“With only two bridges linking Leamington and Warwick, both of which can get quite congested at peak times, this strikes me as an incredibly dangerous plan.”

Mr Plaskitt joined firefighters outside Warwick’s Sainsbury’s supermarket last weekend to collect more names on his petition.

Eva Haskins, who has lived in Warwick for 85 years, was angry at the plans to shut the town’s fire station.

She said: “We’ve always known the fire
station was there if we needed it.

“It would take much longer for fire engines to reach us from Leamington.

“And what about all those firemen who’ve
given years of service? Are they just going to throw them on the scrapheap?”

Mr Plaskitt has set up a Facebook group called Save Warwick Fire Station which currently has more than 1,000 members.

One member labelled the plans as “madness” and another said: “What’s the point of even thinking about closing the fire station? At the end of the day they save lives and help the community. If we get rid of the fire station there is more of a chance there would be nothing left of people’s homes, there could even be deaths because it will take twice as long for the fire services to get to the emergency.”

Rugby and Kenilworth MP Jeremy Wright is fighting plans to close Kenilworth fire station.

He said: “Kenilworth is a town of sufficient size to merit its own fire station and the reasons for keeping it are psychological as well as operational.

“People in the town feel safer with their own fire station.”

It costs about £205,000 a year to fund Warwick and Kenilworth stations but fire bosses and council representatives insist the plans are not a bid to cut costs in the fire service’s £25million-a-year budget.

A 12-week consultation questionnaire about the plans has been issued to the public.

The public meetings take place at Warwick fire station on October 5 at 6.30pm and Leamington fire station on November 3 from 6.30pm.