Andrew Dismore

Conservative Mayor of London, Boris Johnson is continuing to force through his closure of Belsize and Clerkenwell fire stations. The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) will meet next week to vote on the Mayor’s plans. The documents for that meeting – which were published yesterday – shows the Mayor has backed down on the closure of two fire stations south of the river but he intends to try and force the rest of fire cuts through.

The updated plans just released mean that 10 fire stations will still close with the total loss of 14 fire engines and 552 front line firefighter jobs, 32 more than originally proposed, as well as 2 specialist Fire and Rescue Unit vehicles, which deal with  incidents like major road crashes, chemical and biological  accidents, and nuclear incidents. .

The stations that are planned to close still include Belsize and Clerkenwell.

 

Labour London Assembly Member Andrew Dismore, said:

“At the public meetings in Camden and Islington residents spoke with one voice against the closure of Belsize and Clerkenwell fire stations. Boris Johnson has ignored our  residents and is going ahead with his ill-thought out plan.

“Public meetings have shown that Londoners are fearful for the safety of the areas where they live and work. They are understandably worried about injuries and fatalities from fire and accidents. I am deeply disappointed but not surprised that after his sham consultation the Mayor has failed to stand up for London’s fire brigade and our fire-fighters by scrapping his plans. He has yet again let London and Londoners down”

“We all know that savings have to be made, but the London Fire Brigade has already cut £66million.  Mayor Boris Johnson is cutting our vital emergency services to fund his penny a day council tax cut. What would you prefer – a penny a day or a fully funded fire service that can respond to incidents more quickly?”