Predictions of Downgrading or Closure of Balmossie Fire Station Unwelcome

Campaigning with Firefighters to Save Balmossie
Fire Station in December 2009

Councillor Fairweather's statement on Monday predicting a bleak future for Balmossie Fire Station is most unwelcome here in Broughty Ferry.

It is not altogether surprising that an Angus Councillor representing a constituency in Arbroath should argue for the reallocation of resources to places in Angus. Conversely, it is understandable why Dundee based Councillors like me should have campaigned to retain the benefit of a full time Fire and Rescue Station in Balmossie that is effectively also a crucial part of maintaining public safety in greater Dundee.
It has long been recognised that Balmossie not only responds to fires and road accidents in its own area but also acts as a super sub frequently providing cover and back up when there are major incidents in Dundee and Carnoustie. It is a mystery to me why fire crews and their fire engines backing up at another station are not credited with this in the published statistics. This gives the public a misleading impression of station workload. In the case of Balmossie, in close proximity to Dundee, back up and cover is a significant part of their work as well as undertaking numerous fire safety visits.

Many thousands of residents in Broughty Ferry supported the retention of their fire station when its future was threatened in 2009 and 2010. I am sure they will have not changed their minds if their local fire and rescue service is threatened in the future when it is managed by the Single Fire and Rescue Service for Scotland. 

For my part, I am committed to campaign against any future proposal to downgrade or close our Fire Station in The Ferry.

Continuing Need for Full Time 24x7 Service at Balmossie Fire & Rescue Station

I was interviewed on STV news last night about the fire in Monifieth in the early hours of Sunday morning. 

The full time crew on night shift at Balmossie got to the fire in 4 minutes. The retained crew at Balmossie, who are part time fire fighters on call, could not be mustered so a second crew was summoned to the fire from the Kingsway station.  The Kingsway crew arrived a number of minutes later. 

Residents will remember that when Tayside Fire and Rescue proposed to downgrade Balmossie their proposals would have merely left a retained part-time on call crew to cover the night shift. This would not be much use if they couldn't be mustered. 

Bearing in mind how life, limb and property are best protected by getting to a fire quickly, I think this incident demonstrates the continuing need for full-time fire crews at Balmossie.

(link to STV player)

Continuing Support for Balmossie Fire Station

The recent flurry of newspaper articles about Balmossie Fire Station draw on email correspondence between SNP politicians with an interest in the then proposed downgrading of the station. Their views were revealed under freedom of information requests.

On 7 January this year, Broughty Ferry Councillor Ken Guild and Leader of the City Council emailed Councillor Ken Lyall, the Convener of the Tayside Fire and Rescue Board to state he was

"very disappointed at the timing of this controversial proposal in a key sector of a marginal seat in the run up to an election."

This was the then approaching UK General Election subsequently called for Thursday 6 May 2010 when the SNP's Stewart Hosie was anticipating facing the electorate in Dundee East.

I want to make it clear that I am not a fair weather supporter of the retention of Balmossie Fire Station. I have consistently been outspoken in my support for the retention of our fire station on the grounds of public safety for the communities served by our fire station, primarily Broughty Ferry and Monifieth and their landward areas. It should also be remembered that our fire station crews are an important part of back up support for serious fires, floods, chemical spills and road traffic incidents in Dundee and Angus.

Whatever their motivation, I am relieved to learn that any reconsideration of the future of Balmossie Fire Station is off the agenda for at least two years.

Firefighters pass vote of no confidence in Convener and Vice Convener of Tayside Fire & Rescue

Firefighters at Balmossie Fire Station that was saved from downgrading last month have passed a vote of no confidence in the Convener and Vice Convener of the Tayside Fire & Rescue Board.

Fire Brigades' Union members at Balmossie say they are angry with convener Ken Lyall for the way he handled the proposal to cut night-time cover and shift one of the crews to Forfar.

They accuse him of "belittling" the firefighters and the councillors who voted to keep full-time staffing.

The crews have also passed a vote of no confidence in vice-convener Christina Roberts, saying they no longer feel able to trust or respect her.

Full story

Councillor Roberts Provides More Reasons Why She Should Resign

In the Evening Telegraph yesterday, Councillor Roberts rejected my call for her to quit the Tayside Fire & Rescue Board. In so doing I think she has provided more evidence of why she should do the right thing and resign.

Firstly, SNP Councillor Christina Roberts has clarified that, "I am not on the (Tayside Fire & Rescue) board to represent Dundee" .... she believed "the proposals for Balmossie were in the best interests of the wider Tayside area." I wonder how many votes Councillor Roberts received from residents in the wider Tayside area in the May 2007 elections to the city council? Perhaps she is planning to stand for the SNP in Angus next time? Significantly, the East End area often has a fire and rescue crew and fire appliance from Balmossie deputising at Kingsway East when their crews have been called out.

Secondly, later in the article it was reported that:
She said she did not accept claims that fire cover at Broughty Ferry would have been adversely affected if he change had gone through. "I don't believe the Chief Fire Officer would have brought this forward if that had been the case," she said. This seems to be overly deferential to the authority of a chief officer. This has been referred in two Audit Scotland reports. In their report, Tayside Fire and Rescue Authority – Audit Scotland Performance Audit report 2006, they wrote:
"2 Board members and the senior management team demonstrate commitment to the modernisation agenda, however robust challenge is not currently evident throughout the Board structures." (page 3)
and
In the very recently published Best Value 2 pathfinder audit Dundee City Council, they reported on page 10, "The council has many of the key elements in place to ensure good governance and accountability. However, elected member scrutiny of decision-making and performance needs to improve."

I think her responses strengthen the validity of my claim that she should resign as a member of the Fire & Rescue Board. The City Council can easily identify another councillor who will appreciate what it means to represent Dundee on the Fire and Rescue Board.