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Nov 14, 2011 -- Plans to move Cumbria’s fire control room to Winsford will have no affect on the handling of 999 calls, say Cheshire Fire and Rescue.

The Fire Brigade’s Union (FBU) is demanding proper public consultation over the plans to close the command and call centre in Cockermouth and move it to Winsford by June 2012.

The union say its closure could put lives at risk and members in Cheshire fear a knock-on effect for services here.

However, Tim Bevington, head of communications at the Cheshire Fire and Rescue headquarters in the town, said Winsford will be able to handle the transition.

He added: "There shouldn’t be any difference to the services we currently provide.

"We will be using the same system which enables us to send firefighters out across the county.

"There are obviously a lot of practical details to sort out and there will need to be work on both sides to make the switch but essentially it will not change anything."

But Dave Williams, Cheshire branch secretary of the FBU, said he is supporting colleagues in Cumbria in fighting the move.

He added: "We don’t think it is a good idea because of the detrimental impact it will have on them.

"However, we also have our own reservations about the plans on the basis that the control room facilities are capable with dealing with incidents within Cheshire and suddenly there will be calls coming in from outside the county.

"Hopefully technology will overcome some of our concerns but as it stands this technology has not been tried and tested."

In 2014 all control rooms in the north west will move to a regional control centre in Warrington.

The move is part of a Labour government scheme which was scrapped elsewhere in the country last December.

Mr Williams added: "It can only impact on the effectiveness on answering emergency service calls.

"There will be a huge loss of local knowledge. Control staff obviously have good knowledge of the areas they currently work in but will have to take calls from places where they won’t have a clue about the geography."

Cheshire Fire and Rescue say it is currently consulting with the public and the FBU over plans to form a regional control centre.

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.winsfordguardian.co.uk

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