The head of Nottinghamshire's fire service has defended proposed cuts to stations in West Bridgford and Nottingham, insisting the changes are the "least worst" option. A consultation has been launched to reduce Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service's budget by £2million.
The major changes that come with the proposals would see West Bridgford Fire Station have no crew on duty at night, and both London Road and Stockhill stations losing one fire engine each. It is a move that led one union to claim the county would be left with a "lesser fire service".
Chief fire officer Craig Parkin 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," he told Nottinghamshire Live.
Read more: Nottinghamshire could be left with ‘lesser fire service’ if cuts at three stations go ahead
"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."
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.
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."
Proposals will also see the return of 24-hour cover at the Kirkby-in-Ashfield station, after night cover was controversially dropped in favour of on-call staff in 2018. But Mr Parkin insisted the reversal does not mean it was a mistake in the first place.
"It was based on the fact we still had plenty more resources at Stockhill. We felt that the cover on that side of the city was sufficient based on the cuts we had to make at the time," he said. "We've got to stop looking at fire cover as though it is there forever. Risk changes, communities change and we need to move our resources to where they're needed."
Mr Parkin added that cuts in funding were due to the fact fire services were low down on the government's agenda. "I don't think we're in people's minds. Only when people tell them they're cutting the services and people are going to die as a result.
"I don't think the amount of money we're asking for is comparable to other sectors. We need minimal investment to be an excellent organisation. I have to hope a change of government and change of approach might bring a different picture to the service. I don't believe it is high on the agenda. We're somewhere way down on the list."
A 12-week public consultation on the changes will begin on Wednesday, September 28, with a final decision to be made in February 2023.
READ NEXT:
- Speeding Nottinghamshire politician was 'bouncing all over the place' after bingo
- Police cordon tape surrounds entrance to GP practice
- Police statement amid reports of attempted abduction from school
- Nottinghamshire road closed for hours after 'serious crash'
- 'No end in sight' as Post Office remains closed amid relocation
