Bexley fire station avoids axe

Residents of the London borough of Bexley breathed a sign of relief last week (January 11th) after it was confirmed their fire station would not be closed, although initial plans announced in November 2012 suggested it could had been due to fierce cuts in public spending.

The possibility of the station being shut down first came to light when the Mayor of London Boris Johnson told the fire service that it will need to make cuts amounting to £64 million from its budget.

While back office savings could be made to the tune of £14 million, this still left £50 million worth of cuts to be made elsewhere, resulting in a draft proposal that threatened to close stations in Greenwich, Biggin Hill, Deptford and Lee Green.

This plan would have seen response times pushed dramatically back in some areas, which could have cost lives.

However, on Friday, new proposals came to light that would mean a number of stations would be spared, with Bexley being one of those to survive the cull.

Those in the London borough of Chiswick will also be relieved as it emerged their response department had also been spared, following comments from the Fire Brigades' Union (LFB) that the proposals were "dangerous and wrong" in their present form.

Commissioner for the LFB Ron Dobson said that cuts would still be needed in order to account for the reduced budget, although "no compulsory redundancies [are] planned."

This is despite the fact that 520 fire fighter jobs and officer positions are expected to be lost as part of an effort to save £28.8 million over the next two years.

"I am bracing myself for difficult discussions with the LFB Union over the next few weeks. However no lives will be put at risk by these changes," Mr Dobson added.

Posted by Chris Price

Published 16th January, 2013

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