VICTORY AGAIN!!!
For the second time in less than a year Chief Fire Officer Hunter has put fire board members in the unwelcome position of having to defend a proposal that did nothing to improve public safety and did not save a penny of tax payers money. Councillors who voted in favour of downgrading Balmossie will now have to answer to the ballot box when the local election come up later this year.
Once again the same tired old proposal has been dusted down and put out to consultation. Once again firefighters, local politicians and ordinary members of the public have rallied together and helped guide fire board members down the right path.
If CFO Hunter and some of his cronies on the fire board want to put their diminishing reputations on the line once again next year then let us make one thing absolutely clear. We will fight you every step of the way, we will come back bigger, stronger and better organized and we will continue to defend the safety of the communities of Broughty Ferry and surrounding area.
The dictionary definition of the word community is: people living in one particular area or people who are considered as a unit because of their common interests. Well this community have fought long and hard for their common interest, which is the safety of their friends and families. We fought this campaign not out of some selfish belief that it would benefit us as individuals but that it would benefit the communities of Broughty Ferry and surrounding areas as a whole. The sooner that these individuals on Tayside Fire & Rescue management realise this then the quicker they can start working with, and not against the communities that they serve.
Finally on behalf of the Save Balmossie Fire Engine committee we would like to say a heartfelt thank you to every one for all their help and support during this campaign. We would like to think that we are not going to be back here again later on this year. But if need be we will be ready, willing and able to mobilize and make preparations for a hat trick of victories against cuts to emergency services.
Hundreds March To Oppose The Downgrading Of Balmossie
Hundreds of campaign supporters marched through central Broughty Ferry on Saturday 20th March.
Firefighters from around Scotland were joined by local politicians and ordinary members of the public united in their opposition to the proposed downgrading of Balmossie Fire Station. The marchers were cheered every step of the way by well wishers who lined the route from Broughty Castle to St Aiden's Hall in Brook Street where a mass rally took place.
Matt Wrack The Fire Brigades Union national secretary spoke out against cuts to emergency services both locally and nationally, he was joined on the stage by a cross party representation of MP's and local councillors all of whom stressed the need to retain full time cover at Balmossie. Mr Ronnie Costello, Tayside F.B.U. secretary explained to the audience how local management had manipulated turn out figures at Balmossie to make the station appear less active than it actually was. The meeting was chaired by Eddie Thomson, organiser of the campaign.
Tayside Fire Board meet on Monday 29th March in Perth. Members of the board will then vote to either support the local community and to kick the Balmossie proposal in to touch once and for all or support Chief Fire Officer Hunter and downgrade the station.
With local elections coming up very soon communities throughout Tayside will be watching very carefully to see which of their councillors are prepared to put public safety at risk and which ones are prepared to step up to the mark and fight to ensure the protection of local emergency services.
It's Back!
Back on the 30th of March 2009 Tayside Fire & Rescue Joint Fire Board passed an unprecedented vote of 12 to 5 rejecting the proposals by Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Hunter to downgrade Balmossie Fire Station. This was the first time in Scotland that a fire board has gone against the recommendations of a Chief Fire Officer.
Now only nine months later and with total disregard for the views of the local community, Mr Hunter has re-presented exactly the same proposal for the downgrading of Balmossie Fire Station.
Last time it was a long, hard campaign which we WON! and we acknowledge that it was only achieved because of the fantastic support that we received from thousands of members of the public, local politicians and of course not forgetting Oor Lorraine Kelly.
Now we need your support once again to stop Mr Hunter from removing YOUR fire engine from the community.
If its not broken dont fix it!
Balmossie Fire Station has served the people of Monifieth, Broughty Ferry and surrounding areas since December 1982. At present the station is crewed by a full time crew who respond from the station 24/7 and a part-time crew who respond from their homes 24/7.
In August of last year, the Chief Fire Officer of Tayside Fire & Rescue Mr Stephen Hunter, submitted a proposal to the elected members of Tayside Fire Board effectively reducing the number of fire engines stationed at Balmossie Fire Station from two to one. These proposals included the removal of the part-time crew during the day and the removal of the full time crew during the evening.
At present if you require the services of Balmossie Fire station you can expect to have a fire engine mobile to your location within 1-2 minutes of fire control receiving your call followed by a second fire engine approximately 5 minutes later. If these proposals go ahead, during the day the second fire engine would have to come from Kingsway East Fire Station or Blackness Road Fire Station. That is assuming that these extremely busy stations are not attending another incident at the time. In the evening, (when most fire deaths occur), the first fire crew would have have to be mobilized from their homes delaying the attendance time to an incident by more than 5 minutes and again hope that the second fire engine is not attending another incident at the time.
We believe that these savage cost cutting measures are putting the lives of the people served by Balmossie Fire Station at risk but we also believe that with the public's support we can ensure that these frightening proposals do not become a reality.
To see the difference these minutes could make in a fire situation, please view the video below and pay particular attention to the timer to see how long it takes for the fire to quickly develop.