Author Topic: Station closure (Read 17306 times)

johnno · « **on:** June 14, 2005, 11:06:08 AM »

I work on a wholetime / retained station in Derbyshire which is to be closed down and a new station is to be built on the other side of town making it impossible for any retained to reach the station in 5 mins. Even if the attendance time was increased to 10 mins it would be impossible to get a crew there. As the land has not been purchased yet the brigade will not make a decision on what they are going to do with us and I was wondering what options they have opened to them. They have been to the fire authority 2 years ago and have been granted an order to disband us. Will they have to pay redundecy or what are their options.

Cheers
Johnno

dave bev · « **Reply #1 on:** June 16, 2005, 10:02:17 PM »

ask the fbu brigade secretary!

burgermuncher999 · « **Reply #2 on:** June 20, 2005, 10:12:37 AM »

Whats the station.

johnno · « **Reply #3 on:** June 20, 2005, 05:00:06 PM »

Chesterfield

Cut Fire Service Pay · « **Reply #4 on:** June 25, 2005, 04:18:22 PM »

If they are re-locating in the same town i'm sure that they MUST offer all personnel the oportunity to continue with thier job by providing moving expenses ect.. Dont let them get away with it speak to the FBU.

mud · « **Reply #5 on:** September 13, 2005, 10:56:57 AM »

dont let it go with out a fight

Andy Cole · « **Reply #6 on:** September 13, 2005, 12:23:10 PM »

Surely in the long run it will cost the Brigade far more to disband you and loose all your knowledge, experience and training?
Good luck with your fight!

fireftrm · « **Reply #7 on:** September 13, 2005, 01:27:51 PM »

Johnno - what is the intended new location and is it to be WT/RT staffed?

oilybum · « **Reply #8 on:** September 13, 2005, 06:27:37 PM »

Statutory max redundancy is £280 per year of employment plus supplement according to age. Up to a max of 20 years.

Andy Cole · « **Reply #9 on:** September 15, 2005, 02:32:00 PM »

Is it not a question that could be put to your local council? it is afterall them who will be funding all this and they need to consider the financial implications of 'getting rid of' so many RT personnel i.e. Redundancy costs, retraining for new crews I am sure if they weigh this up they may well find it easier (and more financially benefical) to either relocate their exsisting FF's or better still reconsider the location of the new station!

fireftrm · « **Reply #10 on:** September 15, 2005, 03:33:15 PM »

Andy we still await the answer as to whether there is to be a RT complement at the new station. The existing is 2p WT 1p RT, maybe the new one is not to have any retained?

johnno · « **Reply #11 on:** September 16, 2005, 04:24:26 PM »

To my knowledge no decision has been made yet weather or not it will have a retained section, but if you bear in mind Chesterfield is a 3 pump station at the moment and that 1 wholetime pump moves to a new station north of chesterfield in January leaving 1 wholetime and 1 retained pump at the old station it seems a bit much to lose 2 pumps in the area, having said that the brigade has ordered some new appliances that have an 8 personnel cab on them and one is to be stationed at Chesterfield
The decision to relocate the station to the oposite side of Chesterfield has been done because historically thats where there have been the most domestic fire deaths. As far as relocation goes i'm not a snob but if you new the area it was moving to you would not want to live there I dare say your brigades have the same areas whre historically there are people most at risk.
If the decision to disband us does go ahead do you think that we should be offered a job in the wholetime before redundency, being as we are all deemed competent and a Firefighter is a firefighter etc etc, and they are recruiting wholetime to do retauined duties.

fireftrm · « **Reply #12 on:** September 16, 2005, 05:02:08 PM »

If there are vacant wholetime posts then I would support the notion of you being considered for them, though the fact that WT are being recruited to RT does nothing to support your claim, merely that there are RT vacancies that cannot be otherwise filled, or that WT fill these posts more efficiently as they require no training and probation and can offer around 50% daytime cover?

So reading the reply there is a new station (in an area where there wasn't one previously?) whdere 1 pump will be moved to and another new station at the south of the town? Do you know whether the new station will be 1 or 2 pump? The new appliance with an 8 person crew cab may allow 1 pump to turn out with the full first attendance that 2 did previoulsy. I note that the existing station has an aerial, foam and ET too (no doubt alternately staffed) and a watch strength of 19, so the transfer of 1 pump to the new N stn will likley drop the watch strength to 12 - still enough to crew 2 appliances with WT personnel (2nd alternately staffed with specials - as is the case in manmy FRS).

With a new station to the north and another to the south of the centre replacing the former central one how do you come to 'losing 2 pumps in the area'? Seems that there will be the same coverage only moved to the edges and thus covering the town better? Also, as you say, the new location is where the risks appear to be.

Would still be a help if you could tell us what the locations are as we are not locals and will have to examine the maps to get a true picture. From what I can see the town is only 5kms from N to S and has a dual carriageway running directly through it (again N to S), so the travel times may be short from end to end and the 2 stations well able to support each other, when required? There are also another 5 RT staffed pumps within the 10km circle around Chesterfield - quite well served in comparison with many other areas of the country.

I would have thought, sorry to be so harsh, that if I were the management I would be seeking to have the new stations WT crewed with the specials alternate with 2nd pumps and that the existing RT would then not be required. The new N stn (or is this the Staveley one - which is being greatly upgraded from what I can see) has quick transport corridors to the south of the town and also to Dronfield and Staveley.

johnno · « **Reply #13 on:** September 16, 2005, 10:30:42 PM »

crikey you have certainly done your homework. Yes The new station is in Staveley and will be operational from January it will be 1WT pump from Chesterfield and the existing RT pump from staveleys old station. The other new station which impacts on our future will be built on derby road opposite the cinema complex and at the moment the only plans are for 1 WT pump an ariel and the ET as we staff the water/foam carrier. We are fighting to keep the Ariel, and ET could go to Staveley because its near to M1 (although nothing decided yet). Not sure about vacancies in brigade at moment, although there is a recruits course running at moment to fill some posts but same as you say RT could fill these these more efficiently as they require no training or probation.
Yes the WT pump at Staveley could reach Chesterfield in 5 mins but that's defeating the object of putting it up there in the first place.
All I am saying should we be given a chance in this new modern fire service or just discarded after 15 years service.

fireftrm · « **Reply #14 on:** September 18, 2005, 12:40:00 PM »

Jonno - you should be given a chance and where there are vacancies elsewhere in the organisation for the same job - Firefighter - then these should be offered and not redundancy. I am fairly sure that the rep body would have a very good legaql argument here. especially as there are examples of Rt being transferred direct to WT posts elsewhere, so no excuse that the jobs are no the same, also RT is just a DUTY SYSTEM.

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Author Topic: Station closure (Read 17306 times)

mud