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KENT TORIES REMOVE FIRE HEIGHT VEHICLE FROM GRAVESEND At a meeting of its Planning and Performance Committee on 6 May 2008 the Conservative majority on Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority decided to remove the height vehicle from Thameside (Gravesend and Northfleet) Fire Station and place it in Medway Fire Station instead. This was done without the Committee being allowed to see the consultants’ report which allegedly backed this proposal. The Conservatives also refused to defer the decision so that the report could be read before a final decision at the June meeting of the Authority. This is part of the Conservative plan to reduce the number of height vehicles in Kent from the current 7 to 5 and follows their refusal earlier this year to permanently crew any of those emergency vehicles. The Labour Group on the Fire Authority opposed this move, because they were not shown the report and because they are unconvinced that Medway Fire Station is better located than Gravesend for access to other areas around North and West Kent. The proximity of Gravesend Fire Station to the A2/M2 seems to have been ignored. Leslie Christie, Leader of the Labour Group on the Fire and Rescue Authority, said: “With the lives of people in Kent at risk you have to get these decisions right. All available information has to be taken into account and the refusal of the Tory Group to allow the consultants' report to be made available before taking this decision is unacceptable. These vehicles are part of the life-saving equipment needed on occasions as well as providing a secure height base for fighting fires. With the growth of multi storey housing this becomes even more essential." The Tories defeated Labour’s proposal at the budget meeting to permanently staff 3 of these vehicles so even with the reduction from 7 to 5 all of them will only be available if other engines are taken out of operation. The Authority’s claim that every area in Kent can be covered by those vehicles within 30 minutes of a call is hard to accept. Leslie Christie adds: "If for some reason the proposed Medway vehicle is out of operation, all of North and West Kent will rely on Tunbridge Wells. The 5 sites proposed are Thanet; Canterbury; Ashford; Tunbridge Wells and Medway. The real solution is to have 3 vehicles permanently crewed with the two others as back up if necessary."
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