THE Fire Brigades Union yesterday condemned as ‘disgraceful’ Cornwall Council’s proposals to downgrade Falmouth and Camborne fire stations, just one week after the Newquay hotel blaze.
‘These are the only two 24-hour crewed fire stations in the county – the only two guaranteed fire appliances in the county after 6pm,’ Cornwall FBU Secretary Terry Nottle told News Line yesterday.
Nottle said that on Tuesday, along with FBU Regional Secretary John Drake, he had met with Cornwall County Council leader David Whalley and Councillor Ken Yeo, as well as Chief fire officer Matt Littmoden, to demand that the proposal be withdrawn. They also demanded the shortfall in fulltime firefighters currently standing at 17, equating to almost one in ten of the wholetime establishment in Cornwall, be addressed as a matter of utmost urgency.
The Councillors refused, by stalling, saying that they were awaiting the outcome of a detailed investigation into the Newquay hotel fire. The downgrade proposals are to be considered by the full council on October 9.
Nottle said: ‘After the tragic events of the weekend, firefighters and control staff from all over Cornwall have been contacting the FBU to state that it would be totally unfeasible for the council to continue with its proposals, and surely the County Council will see sense. Remarkably the two leaders didn’t share this view. As leader of the County Council David Whalley has totally lost the confidence of firefighters in his ability to provide a service which the public in Cornwall deserve. Councillor Yeo has also shown a complete lack of leadership and firefighters are rightly angry that these proposals are still on the table.’
Nottle continued: ‘Ever since these plans came out in January we have been saying there needs to be a proper risk-based approach to fire cover in order to deal with instances like last weekend’s Penhallow Hotel tragedy. Cornwall has had years of underfunding, and the councillors admitted that, but they’ve failed to put any measures into place to rectify.
‘They blame central government, saying the support grant given to the county is insufficient and that the only way they can find additional funding is at the cost of front line services. Well, the FBU would not sanction cuts in social services to fund the fire service – both should be adequately funded.
‘Our campaign is ongoing. We’re talking to our members who attended the Newquay fire, which is an example of what does happen with reduced provision. The consequence is an increase of risk to everybody in the county and increased loss of life and increased fire damage. At the meeting on Tuesday the councillors refused to give us any guarantees on current or future funding.
