Fenny Compton Fire Station Meeting

11.42.25am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 12th Oct 2009

Nigel Rock at Fenny Compton Fire Station

A packed and overflowing Fenny Compton School Hall heard a presentation on Thursday 8 October on Warwickshire County Council's Fire Service "Improvement Plan". Newly appointed Chief Fire Officer Graham Smith - four days into the job - and Deputy Glen Ranger were there to support the Cabinet Member responsible for the service Cllr Richard Hobbs (Con). Although feelings in the community were running high as successive speakers defended the need for their local fire station, even the Warwickshire County Council side had to agree the community made a telling case.

MP John Maples had sent his apologies and left it to Cllr Chris Williams (Con) who then made representation on behalf of both John Maples and Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate Jeremy Wright - who also sent his apologies. Many speakers in the audience were from the Fire Service and all opposed to the proposals to close the fire station. Some were from Oxfordshire service who were concerned about extra burdens falling upon the teams from over the border.

Local resident Ian Mathie who had been asked to speak on behalf of many ordinary residents of Fenny Compton reinforced the messages from Fire fighters and locals about the risks in the area, the rural issues, the response times, local knowledge and the commitment of the dedicated retained fireman of the station. The senior Councillor responsible for the review, Cllr Hobbs, caused uproar and booing when he appeared to suggest that local freighters were not committed - a form of words he was forced to withdraw and apologise for. It was suggested that a review before recommendations from the Atherstone-on-Stour fire investigation was known, was premature.

It was not only people from Fenny Compton present - Louise Giblin - Chairman of Lighthorne Heath Parish Council and Chris Kettle - Chairman of Bishops Itchington Parish Council made it clear that surrounding areas - wanted, needed and depended on the Fenny Compton team. David Booth pointed out the proximity to MOD base at Kineton, where he worked, represented special added risks and queried whether this had been fully taken into account.

Towards the end of the session Cllr Nigel Rock - Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, and in fact a councillor for an adjacent area to Fenny Compton, rose to speak in summary of many points made previously about the lack of understanding of risks in the review. He wanted to know why it was that there had been an aura of secrecy from the County Council - something he had challenged over preceding weeks. Brandishing a copy of the summary of a risk report by consultants Det Norske Veritas previously kept secret but released that day after Lib Dem requests, he demanded to know why the main report was still being kept secret and how could the public be expected to respond to the consultation without it being in the public domain. According to CFO Graham Smith, the report could not be released as there were references to the Atherstone-on-Stour fire within it, although why it could not be made public with these removed was not clear.

The questions and cases for retention were completed by representatives of the working group to save Fenny Compton firestation.