Clothes take up a large part of my home. There’s a railing all along the hallway from one end of the house to the other and it’s packed full of dresses, ball gowns, tulle and jackets. It makes it nearly impossible to walk by without catching something in your trail. I searched for a long time to find this house, and in my quest, I saw terrible places. I had certain criteria of what my ideal house should have. It should have a large garden (I had originally planned to put a swimming...
Fresh bid to block axing of Lothians fire stations
July 18th, 2007
A BID has been launched to stop the closure of fire stations in the Lothian and Borders Fire Service area.
Twenty two jobs are to be lost when Tranent and Melrose fire stations close and changes are made to the workforce at Hawick.
But West Lothian Council leader, Councillor Peter Johnston, is calling for a full review of the service improvement scheme, known as SIP for short.
He is also concerned nightshifts and weekends at Livingston fire station are to be covered by retained, or “on-call”, fire staff, with 21 full-time staff being transferred to posts in Whitburn, Penicuik and Duns.
His call has been backed by the Fire Brigades Union, which says lives could be put at risk by the changes at Livingston.
Cllr Johnston, who will attend his first meeting as a member of the fire board on Monday, has put forward a motion calling for an urgent review of the plans by the chief fire officer.
In the motion, he says: “The SIP was agreed by the previous fire board based on an overall improvement to the communities of Lothian and Borders.
“As full implementation of the SIP will result in a reduction of three pumping appliances and 22 firefighter positions being lost, this does not appear to be an improvement.”
His motion calls on the chief fire officer to create a full report on the progress of the SIP and, until the board considers the report, to lift the threat of closure of Tranent and Melrose stations.
As part of the SIP, Marionville station, which covers the whole of Leith, would be closed and replaced with two smaller stations serving the community.
Cllr Johnston’s call has won support from Andy Fulton, brigade secretary for the Lothian and Borders area of the FBU.
He said: “It requires nine firefighters to tackle one house fire. If you take away staff from places like Livingston you reduce the capability to tackle those fires.
“Most of the fires we get are in the hours of darkness - from 8pm to 6am - yet whole-time staff at Livingston will be working day shifts.
“If you have retained response it increases the time differentials by up to five minutes, assuming a full crew attends.
“If you speak to anyone who has called the emergency services, they will tell you it can seem like an eternity. If the response time slows that will not help, and it could be fatal.”
Mr Fulton added that he was hopeful the new fire board would have a new perspective on the SIP and said Cllr Johnston had been “smart” in asking for a review and getting the issues discussed again.
Former fire board convener Ken Harrold, who stood down as a councillor last month, said: “For the SIP, we went over a long period of consultation before making these decisions.
“We were sure that any changes would not deteriorate the service or the length of time it takes to get to a fire.
“Mr Johnston has the wrong end of the stick. While I was convener and while I was involved with the fire board for 23 years, it was clear to me that there was nothing but progress for the safety of the people of Lothian and Borders.”
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