A senior councillor has criticised plans to reduce fire crew cover in West Bridgford and reintroduce it in Ashfield, saying it is “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has outlined plans which would see West Bridgford Fire Station have no crew on duty at all at night, and both London Road and Stockhill stations losing one fire engine each.
But in Ashfield, the fire service plans the return of 24-hour cover at the Kirkby-in-Ashfield station.
As crews in West Bridgford would come from other areas overnight, this is expected to increase average response times by 43 seconds at a station already significantly above the service’s eight-minute target.
“They are also planning to take away one of the pumps at London Road which is taking our response even further away.
“We need to make our feelings strong that we want to be treated fairly and respectfully.”
He added that Rushcliffe has “six major roads” running through it, which see serious collisions.
“I am a former traffic cop and I know the dangers on the road. We’ve had a huge increase in housing and population which is still ongoing,” Cllr Inglis said.
“I think it’s important that residents comment on the consultation, we need to put our views across”.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has strongly opposed the plans.
The service is looking at a £6m deficit over the next six years and the first plans, intending to save £2m, are currently out to public consultation.
Mick Sharman said: “Regrettably the service has faced over a decade of severe, continued and increasing financial pressures.
“We have a legal requirement to set a balanced budget, so we have had no choice but to propose changes to the organisation.
“The suggested changes have been independently assessed by a sector leading specialist, following a comprehensive risk analysis across the city and county, including in Rushcliffe.
“The location of a fire station, its resources, and staffing models are all informed by a significant amount of data analysis, including community risk profiling and historical incident demand review.
“The proposal is one that enables us to save the money required, with the least impact on service-wide performance.”
A final decision on the plans is expected in February 2023 and if approved after the public consultation, the changes will go ahead from April 2023.
• Councillor slams plans to remove emergency fire cover from West Bridgford and London Road stations
