MARSDEN fire station is to close – despite a massive public campaign to save it.
It will go to save the West Yorkshire Fire Authority £250,000 a year.
The proposal was one of 11 which were approved at West Yorkshire Fire Authority meeting yesterday in response to imposed funding cuts of £7m by April 2014.
Across the county the measures mean seven fire engines will be withdrawn, two new stations built to merge four existing stations, and fire appliances relocated and unmanned.
The fight to save Marsden attracted 1,721 letters of support and more than 1,000 names on two petitions.
Marsden, a retained fire station, is the only full closure to be implemented in this wave of cuts.
But the authority said across the whole service, they had seen a drop of 42% in incidents over last decade.
Another station earmarked for closure in Haworth saw the move suspended for two years to look at other options including running a community emergency services centre.
Kirklees councillor Cahal Burke, who sits on the authority, made a last-ditch attempt to save Marsden fire station.
He told the committee: “The same approach should be applied to Marsden as Haworth.
“The authority needs to look again and conduct a full feasibility study.”
He also supported sharing services with other emergencies such as mountain rescue – with a community led facility.
This option is now being proposed for Haworth – a first for West Yorkshire.
But members of the authority voted against the late saving of Marsden, with only two of the committee supporting keeping it open.
Deputy Chief Fire Officer Steve Beckley said the authority cannot ignore the reality of financial cuts and change accordingly.
He told the Examiner after the meeting: “The closure of Marsden fire station is effectively reducing an engine. We are not reducing the cover as this will be provided by Slaithwaite, as is already the case, in many instances.
“We have looked at other options to closure but to build a new fire station to serve Marsden and Slaithwaite would cost £2.5m.
“We need to make savings and there are at least 20 other areas in West Yorkshire which are not served by a station like Marsden.”
He said to ensure the area was covered ‘reinvestment’ would be made in Slaithwaite’s retained firefighter staffing levels, to ensure enhanced firefighter availability.
Kirklees District Commander Keith Robinson said: “It’s a sad day for Marsden.
“It’s part of the authority’s long term plan. The authority has had to make some tough decisions today.
“The community of Marsden will continue to be served by Slaithwaite and Marsden. We hope that firefighters affected by Marsden closure can be redeployed.”
Clr Nicola Turner, who has campaigned to keep the station open, said: “I am massively disappointed by the decision. There are other options that are being used elsewhere that could have been extended to Marsden but these have been ignored. It’s a bad day for fire safety in the Colne Valley as well as for our residents and our retained fire-fighters.”
And Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney who has campaigned to keep the station open said he would continue to ensure front-line services were protected.
He said: “I am absolutely gutted with the decision to close Marsden fire station.”
He said there had been really strong support from the Colne Valley and said they will continue to look at alternatives.
He added: “Marsden is in a unique situation.
“We have seen the need for front-line service with the fire at Grosvenor Chemicals and the area is also at risk of moorland fires.”
Clr Mehboob Khan, who chairs the Fire Authority, said his colleagues had to make tough decisions.
“The authority is tackling, head on, its responsibility to provide and maintain the best fire and rescue service that resources will permit.
“This is the second consecutive year that the Chief Fire Officer has had to propose changes as part of a review of emergency cover to meet the deepest budget cuts this Authority has faced.
“We don’t take our duty lightly and applaud the record levels of community feedback regarding this important change for the county, taking some comfort from the fact that a great many consultees recognised our dilemma.”
THERE will be 200 fewer full-time firefighters serving across West Yorkshire by 2020.
But the staffing levels will be achieved through natural wastage and so no jobs will be at risk.
West Yorkshire Fire Authority yesterday approved a reduction in manned fire engines at seven fire stations across the county.
They plan to instead introduce fire appliances, which were previously required to attend major incidents or in peak periods, such as bonfire night, to be based at local fire stations.
Cash savings will be made by not staffing all appliances all the time.
They are also merging four fire stations into two newly built ones.
The cuts across the county are:
Removing one fire engine from Halifax and providing a fully equipped Resilience Pump which can be utilised when required.
Removal of one fire engine from Fairweather Green, Bradford – to be replaced with a Fire Response Unit, to be dual crewed with the Command Unit and Welfare Unit.
Remove the second fire engine from Keighley, with the closure of Haworth fire station being suspended for two years.
Close Shipley and Idle fire stations and replace them with a new fire station with one fire engine at a site in the vicinity of the Leeds Road/Cragg Road/Briggate area.
Remove a fire engine from Odsal.
