CONTROVERSIAL plans to cut the number of full-time firefighters at Yate Fire Station have come under attack.

The cutbacks, which are included in Avon Fire and Rescue Service’s integrated risk management plan (IRMP), are being proposed to help the service meet its target of saving £5 million a year until 2020.

The changes would see Yate Fire Station revert to its “pre-2009 crewing model” with full-time crews working in the day and on-call firefighters being retained overnight.

More full-time crews were introduced for the service to meet the demands following dramatic expansion of the area.

Critics of the proposals fear the changes could leave some areas with a less efficient protection overnight as on-call firefighters are not able to respond as quickly to an emergency as firefighters based at the station.

Yate town councillor Chris Willmore said: “The public don’t want services cut and it is crazy to think that of any service facing cuts, it would be fire services. Having one extra person put at risk is one person too many.

“The places that are being caught up by the changes are the areas that are currently in the 10-minute response time but won’t be when on-call crews need additional time to get to the station.

“Also, while it is likely that a call-out at 2am will not face much traffic, a real question we want answers for is how the 10-minute callout radius will be affected in the 5pm rush hour traffic, when accidents are more likely.

“It is no good for residents and councillors just saying no – we have to put ways forward that the fire authority can deliver cuts without generating a bigger impact on the area.

“Why not have one full-time crew on service and one on-call crew retained during the day and then the same again at night rather than two retained crews? That would reassure people that there would be a crew ready to go at all times.

“If members of the public have ideas or alternatives to put forward, we would like them to share it.”

The IRMP is under public consultation until Saturday, December 31, with a public drop-in session being held in Yate Fire Station today from 10am to 7pm. Firefighters from the station will also be speaking with residents on Saturday morning in Yate Shopping Centre about their job and the consultation, encouraging people to sign a petition against the proposals.

One firefighter at the station told the Gazette that following the proposals, 18 of the 28 full-time firefighters at the station have put in transfer requests.

Fire Brigade Union representative Gary Spindler said: “We are in a period of austerity but we don’t agree with the cuts or the methods with which they plan to impose them.“The reduction of the fire cover in Yate concerns us, especially the night time cover, and as such we are urging central government and the local councils to reconsider these changes.”

Avon and Somerset deputy chief fire officer Lorraine Houghton encouraged residents to take part in their consultation survey either at the drop-in session, or online at avonfire.gov.uk.

She added: “Like many other fire and rescue services we are looking at ways in which we can reconfigure the way we provide our services while still maintaining our current emergency response standards.

“We have monitored the number of incidents attended by the station over the last seven years and the trend has actually been downwards, in part as a result of our community safety work across the area.

“As a result we’re confident that the pre-2009 crewing model which used wholetime firefighters during the day and on-call firefighters at night is once again appropriate.

“Despite the changes, we will continue to meet our existing response standards in the Yate, which are in line with similar sized towns in the Avon Fire and Rescue Service area.”