A lengthy meeting took place at Newtown fire station yesterday (Wed 9th Feb) between fire service bosses and Newtown staff following recent proposals which revealed Montgomeryshire could be left without any full time frontline fire-fighters.
Conservative Welsh Assembly Candidate and County Councillor Russell George who attended the meeting said:
“There was a strong feeling that Powys had been disproportionately affected by the proposals and there were very different views from around the table on how changes may affect the area. I was very disappointed that there will be no public consultation on the proposals. The most important issue to me must be that the response time from that 999 call to any incident must not be jeopardised”
Councillor George had previously labelled the proposals as Shocking.
“We also need further clarification on what this will mean for the future of the Newtown station if these proposals come into effect. Certain equipment used to tackle flooding and dealing with dangerous waste spillages could be withdrawn and this is particularly concerning.”
“All sectors have to look at how money can be saved, but it must be done in a fair way throughout the region and priority must be on retaining frontline services especially when it comes to important emergency services”
