Listening to Offerton fire crews

Firefighters at the under-threat Offerton Fire Station have met with Parliamentary Candidate Lisa Smart and local Liberal Democrat Councillors to air their concerns at the plans to move their station onto day crewing – making it the only place in Greater Manchester where two neighbouring stations are both day crew only (Marple and Offerton).

The plans will worsen response times by over 20% in Offerton, but will also impact on surrounding areas, including Bredbury, Romiley, Hazel Grove and Marple. It also affects responses as far afield as Poynton and Macclesfield – with Offerton fire crews regularly responding over the Cheshire border, despite this not being included in the data that the proposal has been based upon.

Lisa Smart, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate and Councillor for Bredbury Green and Romiley – one of the affected areas, said: “The fire and rescue service is a vital emergency service. Crews based at Offerton Fire Station perform an heroic task keeping our community safe. Local people are understandably worried that a reduction in cover and the resulting increase in response times will make local people less safe. We are calling on the Labour Mayor and Deputy Mayor to make the right decision and reject these proposals.

“We look forward to questioning the plans - and the data they are based upon - at the upcoming Extraordinary Scrutiny meeting called for next week."

The consultation on the changes is open to local residents to respond until July 5, and the Liberal Democrats are seeking to ensure as many people are aware of the consultation and respond to it as possible, as many residents in Marple, Bredbury, Romiley and Hazel Grove may be unaware of the impact the ending of 24/7 cover in Offerton will have on them.

Lisa continued: “If this is a justified decision, decision-makers should be able to easily respond to our questions. If they can’t, then we don’t know that this decision is being taken for the right reasons. People’s lives are at risk if the wrong decisions are taken about where to station fire crews. Surely the Labour Mayor and his deputy must see that that is too important a decision to be made without listening properly to the people on the ground – the fire crews and the people whose lives are in their hands.”