Forest Hill and Erith will both permanently lose half of their fire engines, after Boris Johnson pushed through cuts against the wishes of 70 per cent of Londoners who responded to a consultation.
The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) has been consulting on plans to remove the 13 engines, which have been out of action since August 2013, in order to plug a £11.5m funding gap.
Forest Hill Fire Station
Erith Fire Station, in Erith Road, and Forest Hill Fire Station, in Stansted Road, were two of those included - despite a worrying trend of rising waiting times.
The majority of respondents to the public consultation backed the alternate option, of restoring the engines and implementing alternate staffing at stations with two pumps.
Under this plan, some stations would have just one crew for both an engine and special appliance.
Boris Johnson
However the Mayor of London Boris Johnson instructed LFEPA to go with London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson’s preferred option, and this was formally approved at a meeting last Thursday.
Finance chairman of the LFEPA and Labour London Assembly member, Andrew Dismore, resigned on hearing the decision.
Erith Fire Station
Erith and Thamesmead MP Teresa Pearce said: “It’s a short-sighted step to remove a fire engine in the area of the borough where thousands of new homes are to be built.
“The consultation showed that local people were overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the engine but Boris has ignored their views and scrapped it anyway.”
Teresa Pearce
Erith ward Councillor Abena Oppong-Asara added: “I am outraged - Erith is going through a lot of regeneration changes, which means the population will be growing quite significantly.
“This is not the time to be removing a fire engine from Erith.”
Just last week, firefighters were forced to travel from as far as Beckenham and West Norwood to battle a four-engine blaze at a maisonette in Polecroft Lane (below).
Under the 2008 Greater London Authority act, the mayor has the power to overrule decisions made by the authority.
Labour Londonwide Assembly member Fiona Twycross said: “Boris Johnson’s dictatorial approach in forcing through these cuts betrays his utter disdain for proper democratic process.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES:
“He has disregarded the views of the Londoners who had taken the time to respond.”
Mr Dobson claimed the decision would not affect the brigade’s ability to meet its response time targets.
Ron Dobson
However, waiting times for a second appliance in Forest Hill are now 49 seconds above the eight-minute target, whilst an average response time of seven minutes and 59 seconds in the Bexley borough is teetering on the brink.
In Erith, waiting times went up by two minutes and nine seconds in the two years since losing the appliance – although they are still on track at seven minutes and 15 seconds.
Across the Lewisham borough, the wait increased by 55 seconds to seven minutes and 13 seconds.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel