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Belsize Liberal Democrats
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Save Belsize Fire Station!
by Tom Simon on 6 May, 2013
Cllr Tom Simon (right) with London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon and local Lib Dems
UPDATE: A new report released by the London Fire Brigade shows the increase in average response times across London on a ward-by-ward basis. Belsize Ward will see its average response time increase to 8 minutes, 2 minutes over the LFB’s own 6 minute target. The report shows increases across Camden with 6 other wards also above the target.
Your local Lib Dems are opposing Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson’s plan to close Belsize Fire Station on Lancaster Grove and 11 others across London. His plan would reduce the number of fire engines in London by 18 and cut the number of firemen by 520. His position is the closures are unavoidable and that the reduced level of the fire service will be able to meet London’s need. This is disputed by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA), a cross-party body which scrutinises the Mayor in this policy area, and the Fire Brigades Union.
In a proposed budget amendment earlier this year, A budget amendment proposed by Lib Dems along with Labour and Green members of the Greater London Assembly showed that if the Mayor gave up his 7p a week cut in Council tax, then the fire stations and engines could be saved. LFEPA and the Fire Brigades Union dispute the Mayor’s view that the reduced service will be enough and claim that lives and property will be put at risk.
If you would like to oppose the plan or just to have your say on this issue, there are various things you can do:
1) Take part in the public consultation. This is a wide-ranging and quite technical consultation, but you can just complete the section on fire station closures. The consultation is open until 17th June.
2) Come on the march on 25th May. The march will start at Oriel Place in Hampstead at 1130 am and make its way down to Belsize Fire Station on Lancaster Grove by noon.
3) Come to the public meeting on 30th May, 7-9pm at the London Irish Centre, 50-52 Camden Square, NW1 9XB.
4) Email the Mayor of London (mayor@london.gov.uk).
Next Steps
The consultation is due to run until mid-June. The Mayor of London will then respond to the results of the consultation. It is likely that he will then decide to go ahead with the planned closures. There may then be a legal challenge from LFEPA to try and stop it. If the consultation has made it clear that a large number of people oppose the move, this may help.
2 Comments
An already existing station is necessary for the safety of the neighbourhood and for immediate access to nearby properties. Small is beautiful and efficient and in the long run cheaper to run than a huge unwieldy centralized expensive system.
Save our Fire Station
I’m not sure if my previous comment, sent a few minutes ago, reached wherever it was supposed to reach because I didn’t input the Captcha. In case it did not I summarise it here: I am totally opposed to the closure of my local fire station – Belsize – and all the others; especially since the apparent rationale for these closures is to save ALL OF 7P PER WEEK IN COUNCIL TAX! I strongly believe that the Mayor is doing this not out of principle buit simply to get re-elected on headlines saying “Boris cuts Council Tax!” with no mention of how minute the cut is; because he realises, and is taking advantage of, the unpopularity of Council Tax.