Council's opposition to control room changes (From Gazette Series)

Council's opposition to control room changes

COUNCILLORS at Ebley Mill have unanimously opposed closure of Gloucestershire fire brigade's control rooms.

The news comes just a year after it moved lock, stock and hose into the £3 million state-of-the-art Gloucestershire Tri-Service Emergency Centre in Quedgeley, alongside police and ambulance counterparts.

The government plans to merge all county rooms into nine regional offices nationalwide within three years.

The council backed am West Lib Dem councillor Dennis Andrewartha's motion calling for the control rooms to remain where they are - not to be moved "miles out of the county".

He argued: "If you've got more control rooms, you're more responsive to terrorism."

Summing up council cross-party consensus, Cllr Raymond Apperley (Con, The Stanleys), said: "I saw the way the police, fire and ambulance services operated there and I think it would be very bad if the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister goes this way and takes away the fire control from the centre."

County fire and rescue service spokesman Andy Gillingham said the service remained opposed to the plans.

"We wish fire control rooms to remain within Tri-service and within Gloucestershire because we think it provides the most effective service to the people of Gloucestershire in terms of cost effectiveness and safety."

Prince Charles opened the centre at Waterwells Business Park last June, as the first of its kind in the country.

It houses around 300 emergency staff handling all calls and dispatch.

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister spokesman David Nieberg told the Gazette: "There will not be any county fire control rooms by 2007."

This, he said, was because the government wanted to create a more resilient fire service in the face of the terrorist threat.

"It will form an added layer of resilience. Post September 11 the fire service operates in a very different way," said Mr Nieberg. "The size of incidents they may have to respond to may be very, very different and a better response will be provided at regional levels."

But the county fire service fears lives may be put at risk by operators based outside the county lacking intimate knowledge of the local areas.