Stations to stay open for a year says authority member

FIRE stations in Notts will not close for at least a year, it has been claimed.

Notts Fire Authority had earmarked the stations at Edwinstowe, Warsop and Collingham for closure ahead of a meeting about spending cuts last week, while engines were also set to be removed from Arnold, Carlton and Highfields stations and the pumps at West Bridgford relocated.

But Notts Fire Authority decided to put the decision on hold and set up a working party to look at the issue, following an amendment proposed by Councillor Jason Zadrozny.

Mr Zadrozny now says he expects it to be at least a year before any final decision.

He said: "The results of the working party are at least going to take around six or seven months, and then after a three month public consultation effectively we will have stalled things for a year.

"Had we not done this, station closures could have been drafted in relatively quickly and the retained stations were most in danger of having this happen to them."

Up to 102 retained firefighters feared their jobs were at immediate risk.

Jeremy Rhodes, the vice-chairman of the Notts Retained Firefighters Union, said the organisation welcomed the delay, but said the move wasn't a reprieve for the threatened stations.

"It's great news and we appreciate it, but we are not out of the woods yet," he said.

"We have bought more time, but the axe is still yet to fall somewhere, hopefully this year will give us time to prepare," he said.

An official spokesman confirmed there would be a period of "extensive public consultation before any decisions are made".

Over the next four years the Government plans to reduce the Notts fire budget by �6.5 million – a reduction of around 36 per cent, and one of the biggest cuts in the country.

Fire authority chairman Darrell Pulk criticised Mr Zadrozny for second-guessing the outcome of the working party.

He said: "It was never our intention to close stations straight away. To say there will be no closures for a year could well happen, but you are pre-empting the results of the working party – which hasn't even been set up yet."

Mr Pulk also warned that other cuts would be made to the fire service as a whole.

He said: "There are going to be redundancies made to the fire service during the coming year. The authority has identified eight posts to be made redundant and there is talk of cuts to catering staff and control room personnel."

A Notts Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "If the authority supports the working group's proposals, there will be a period of extensive public consultation before any decisions are made."

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