Proposal to close Downham Fire Station
I've been asked to raise awareness of the potential closure of Downham Fire Station by Councillor Janet Daby, Whitefoot councillor and Cabinet Member for Community Safety in Lewisham. As well as Downham, the proposal is to close New Cross Fire Station too.
A consultation on the closure of Downham and other fire stations across London is being conducted which ends on at 5pm on 28th May 2013. Members of the public can have their say by visiting
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/lsp5.asp, www.saveourstations.org.uk , calling 0800
9888 569, by writing to the London Fire Brigade at 169 Union Street, London, SE1 0LL.
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| Protest in support of Downham Fire Station |
Councillor Daby writes:
As one of the Local
Councillors and Cabinet Member for Community Safety in Lewisham I am
most concerned about the proposals from the London Mayor to
close Downham
Fire Station. With your assistance we need to make residents aware of
the proposals and urge them to individually respond to prevent the
closure of our local fire station. In the past this station has been
saved from closure twice and I am confident we can again do this.
The Fire Brigade Union have said the public concern and
individual complaints and protests will have most impact to stop this
from happening. In Lewisham the proposed closure is for two Lewisham
Fire stations to close and this will have a safety impact on the whole
of Lewisham. The local population today is more
dense compared to when the Downham fire
station was first built. I have recently been told more house owners
are opening up their fires to save on bills, which is a possible serious
safety issue, but most importantly the response time
of fire service will be lengthened and this will affect lives. These
are a few of the reasons why we need to maintain the service as well as
the excellent preventive work the local fire brigade service provides.
We need to save Downham
Fire Station and the service it provides to Whitefoot, Downham and Bellingham residents, as well as to the rest of Lewisham.
In your newsletter/Website please tell residents what I have said and inform them the consultation ends at 5pm on Tuesday 28 May 2013. Members of the public can have their say by visiting
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/lsp5.asp, www.saveourstations.org.uk , calling 0800
9888 569, by writing to the London Fire Brigade at 169 Union Street, London, SE1 0LL.
The link below provides more information about the proposals
The proposals would see 12 fire
stations close, seven fire stations that currently have two fire engines
moving to one fire engine, and four stations gaining a fire engine (a
net reduction of 18 fire engines) and a reduction in the number
of firefighter
posts of 520. Under the proposals, the Commissioner of the London Fire
Brigade believes it would be possible to make these changes without
making any operational firefighters compulsorily redundant. Details of the proposed changes
are:
• Belsize – Close
• Bow – Close
• Clapham – Close
• Clerkenwell – Close
• Downham – Close
• Kingsland – Close
• Knightsbridge – Close
• New Cross – Close
• Silvertown – Close
• Southwark – Close
• Woolwich – Close
• Westminster – Close
• Chelsea – Two fire engines to one
• Chingford – 2 to 1
• Hayes – 2 to 1
• Leyton – 2 to 1
• Leytonstone – 2 to 1
• Peckham – 2 to 1
• Whitechapel – 2 to 1
• Hendon – One fire engine to two
• Orpington – 1 to 2
• Stanmore – 1 to 2
• Twickenham – 1 to 2
The Draft Fifth London Safety Plan sets out a range of other proposals
including how the Brigade may start recovering costs from persistent
false alarm offenders, encourage the installation of sprinkler systems
where appropriate, and explore setting up the
world’s first 999 twitter feed.
Members of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA)
originally met on Monday 21 January 2013 to discuss the proposals. An
amendment was made by Labour members, which was supported by Liberal
Democrat and Green
members. The amendment meant that LFEPA
did not agree to consultation on the part of the plan which deals with
the closure of fire stations, or loss of appliances or operational
posts.
The Conservative Members of the
Authority opposed the amendment and instead unanimously supported the
Commissioner’s proposals. Following this, the Mayor of London used his
powers of direction to instruct LFEPA to begin a public
consultation, by 13 February, on the version of the plan that was originally presented to the Authority.
At an extraordinary meeting of
the Authority on Monday 11 February, a majority of members supported a
resolution to stop compliance with the Mayor’s direction.
Subsequently,
the Mayor wrote to LFEPA
saying that he would seek legal
redress to ensure that his direction was followed. At a meeting of the
Appointments and Urgency Committee on Tuesday 26 February members voted
to authorise that public consultation on the whole of the draft fifth
London Safety Plan could begin.
