Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

New County Hall at 03/10/2002 09:00

Members of the Individual Well Being Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee have given their full backing to a proposal to build a new retained fire station in Hayle and are unanimously recommending to the County Council’s Executive that it approves the scheme when it meets on October 16th.

Although Option 2 - to build a new £800,000 one pump retained fire station - was unanimously supported by Councillors at today’s meeting, Vice Chairman Andrew Mitchell emphasised that their Committee was not a decision making body and that he did not want to raise expectations . The recommendation to provide a new fire station in Hayle will now be considered by the Executive in two weeks time, with a final decision to be made by the County Council at its meeting on October 29th.

“This is a very emotive subject , both for Councillors at this meeting and for the people of Hayle," said Andrew Mitchell, who also chaired the Single Issue Panel set up to examine fire incident attendance times in the Hayle area.

The Panel carried out a detailed review of the fire cover provision in Hayle, assisted by County Councillors, the Mayor and other members of Hayle Town Council, and officers of Cornwall County Fire Brigade. This concluded that, despite various measures taken by Cornwall County Fire Brigade and the Town Council, attendance times in the Hayle area remained unsatisfactory and Chief Fire Officer Mick Howell was asked to put forward a range of options to address the situation.

These included taking no action; building a new retained station at Hayle; upgrading St Ives Fire Station to day staffed and re-locating St Ives Fire Station to Carbis Bay.

Recommending Option 2 – to build a new retained fire station - Chief Fire Officer Mick Howell said this was based on the analysis, evidence and scrutiny carried out by the Single Issue Panel and with regard to costs, statutory duty and general operational efficiency.

Explaining that Option 2 was also the unanimous recommendation of the Single Issue Panel, Andrew Mitchell said that he had no doubts that this was the right action to take. “The Panel considered this issue in great detail, visiting the area and speaking to Town Councillors and local people, as well as taking professional advice from Fire Brigade officers” said Mr Mitchell.

“I would like to thank everyone who took part in this review and I hope that the Executive will support our recommendation”.

Local councillors Terry Lello and Shirley Oliver also gave their full support to the option for a new fire station. “Providing a new fire station will go a long way to restoring the confidence of the people of Hayle and it is very good to see the County Council leading the way “said Terry Lello; while Mrs Oliver said the work of the Panel had proved that a new fire station was necessary for the town.