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Public consultation meeting in Saughall Massie on proposed new fire station

Dan Stephens Chief Fire Officer, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service at Greasby Methodist Church Hall, Greasby Road, Greasby on 10th November 2014 for consultation meeting on closure of Upton and West Kirby fire stations and merger at Greasby — Dan Stephens Chief Fire Officer, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service at Greasby Methodist Church Hall, Greasby Road, Greasby last year for a consultation meeting on the proposed closure of Upton and West Kirby fire stations

Tonight, the first of three public meetings will be held (starting at 6.30pm at the St Mary’s Centre, 127 Saughall Massie Road, CH49 4LA) to consult with the public on options which include building a new fire station in Saughall Massie (if Upton Fire Station & West Kirby Fire Station close). Another option being consulted on is the closure of West Kirby Fire Station and keeping Upton Fire Station open.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service have produced an eighteen page consultation document which details their reasons for the consultation. There is also an online questionnaire as part of the consultation and you can email consultation2@merseyfire.gov.uk with your views or write to Wirral Consultation, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, Bridle Road, Bootle, L30 4YD.

The twelve week consultation ends on the 18th May 2015 and there will be two further public meetings in addition to the one tonight in Saughall Massie.

Tuesday, 28th April, at Holy Cross Church community rooms, by Holy Cross Church, Woodchurch, CH49 7LS, starting at 6.30pm.

Tuesday, 5th May, at Hoylake Community Centre, The Parade, Hoyle Road, Hoylake, CH47 3AG, starting at 6.30pm.

A transcript of the reasons given by the Chief Fire Officer for the consultation at the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority meeting on the 29th January can be read here.

You may also be interested in Saughall Massie residents express their opposition to fire station plans at first consultation meeting which includes video of the meeting.

If you click on any of the buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people.

Incredible: Wirral Council shared 55,640 addresses of residents who live on their own with Merseyside Fire Service!

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Paul Murphy of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service explains how Wirral Council told Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service where all the people claiming a single person council tax discount live 19th March 2015

At yesterday’s meeting of Merseyside’s Fire and Rescue Authority’s Performance and Scrutiny Committee Paul Murphy (the fire service manager for the Wirral district) said something surprising (his interesting talk starts at 3 minutes 22 seconds into the video of the meeting above).

31 minutes and 6 seconds into the meeting, in answer to a question from a councillor he says, “What we did with the last Chief Exec is, that was the dilemma I was sadly in Councillor Stapleton, so the give away to me was to deliver that up. So we went to Wirral Borough Council and said “Would you do us a favour? Would you share your single person council tax, who are those people on that list?” and Wirral shared that with us.

So straight away it went from 320,000, it shrunk it down, I think it was around I can’t remember the exact numbers but it went from a global figure to a manageable figure and that goes on, on the fire stations they’ll have a Goldmine system of status reports. So if it’s for instance Paul Murphy, if I’m 65, I live alone, I’m a known smoker, I’ve been in hospital, I will build up a criteria, the vulnerable person index and then what the fire crews will do is they will prioritise those people especially if they haven’t had a visit.”

Just to summarise, a person lives on their own so quite rightly gets 25% off their Council Tax. Unbeknownst to them, Wirral Council shares this information with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, so a fire engine and crew comes round offering them a free smoke alarm?

Does anyone other than me find this sharing of council tax data for other purposes worrying? There is a poll below so you can give your opinion on this.

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Councillors agree 12 week consultation on new £1.95 million Saughall Massie fire station to replace Upton and West Kirby

Chief Fire Officer explains to councillors at a meeting of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority why he thinks Saughall Massie is the best place for a new fire station

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Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority meeting 29th January 2014 Part 1 of 2 starting at agenda item 5 (West Wirral Operational Response Considerations (Post Consultation))

This transcript continues from Councillors on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority discuss the Greasby fire station consultation and one states “there is no reason the vocal minority should get their way”. The reports for this agenda item can be read here on the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority website.

CLLR DAVE HANRATTY (Chair, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority representing Liverpool City Council): OK then, item five now, this is consideration of the next stage which is before us.
Continue reading “Councillors agree 12 week consultation on new £1.95 million Saughall Massie fire station to replace Upton and West Kirby”

Councillors on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority discuss the Greasby fire station consultation and one states "there is no reason the vocal minority should get their way"

Councillors on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority discuss the Greasby fire station consultation and one states “there is no reason the vocal minority should get their way”

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Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority meeting 29th January 2014 Part 1 of 2 starting at agenda item 4 (Wirral Fire Cover Consultation Options)

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Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority meeting 29th January 2014 Part 2 of 2

There was a lot said at the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority meeting, I thought it might be better to have a verbatim transcript of what was said starting with agenda item 4 (Wirral Fire Cover Consultation Outcomes), which was about the recent consultation on closure of Upton and West Kirby fire stations with a new fire station at Greasby. For this item on the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority’s website there is a report, copy of the consultation newsletter (appendix A), copy of the 2nd consultation document (appendix B), questionnaire results report (appendix C), Focus groups and forum report (appendix D), Questions from meetings (appendix E) and Wirral Fire Service Consultation Outcomes (appendix F).

CLLR DAVE HANRATTY (Chair, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority representing Liverpool City Council): Item number 4 is the consultation outcomes of the proposed merger in Wirral of Upton and West Kirby. Thank you.

Continue reading “Councillors on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority discuss the Greasby fire station consultation and one states "there is no reason the vocal minority should get their way"”

Decision expected soon over whether to consult on plans to build new fire station on green belt land in Saughall Massie

Last year, one of the more high-profile stories was the consultation on plans to close Upton and West Kirby fire stations and replace them with a new fire station in Greasby village. In a dramatic U-turn last year Wirral Council decided to withdraw their offer of the land in Greasby part way through the consultation.

Next week a public meeting of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority (which comprises 18 councillors representing the various districts in Merseyside including four from Wirral Council) will decide what happens next. The outcome of the consultation is agenda item 4 (Wirral Fire Cover consultation outcomes and what’s suggested to do next is agenda item 5 (West Wirral Operational Response Considerations (Post Consultation).

Councillors will choose from one of three options which are:

1) deferring a decision on the closure of West Kirby Fire Station and holding a further 12-week consultation starting on 2nd March. This consultation would be very similar to the last one with the main difference between this and the last consultation being that the new fire station would be built on a piece of land on Saughall Massie Road, Saughall Massie not Frankby Road, Greasby.

2) have a six-week consultation on the closure of West Kirby Fire Station and keep Upton Fire Station. Councillors would then make a further decision in April 2015.

3) have a six-week consultation on the closure of West Kirby Fire Station, reporting back to make a further decision in April 2015 whilst at the same time looking for an alternative site for Upton Fire Station before a further 12 week consultation.

Although no decision on which option to go for has yet been made, the proposed site for the new fire station can be found here thanks to a map given to the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority by Wirral Council and published as part of the reports for the meeting.

According to Wirral Council’s asset register this piece of land is down as “Saughall Massie Road Open Space” and is described as “public open space (amenity)”. It’s also in Wirral’s green belt.

What is also revealed in one of the reports for the meeting was that Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service spent £6,244.20 with a firm of architects on the aborted plan for a fire station in Greasby (these were the plans on display that were on display at the second Greasby consultation meeting).

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Public consultation meeting in Saughall Massie on proposed new fire station

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Incredible: Wirral Council shared 55,640 addresses of residents who live on their own with Merseyside Fire Service!

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Councillors agree 12 week consultation on new £1.95 million Saughall Massie fire station to replace Upton and West Kirby

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Councillors on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority discuss the Greasby fire station consultation and one states “there is no reason the vocal minority should get their way”

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Decision expected soon over whether to consult on plans to build new fire station on green belt land in Saughall Massie

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