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AS part of cuts to the Fire and Rescue service, the village fire station at Bovingdon is threatened with closure in April 2006.
Furious residents of the village and surrounding area have formed an action group to fight the plan and SOS (Save our Fire Station.)
The campaign has widespread support in the area
Update April 5
Fire crews threaten strike action
FIREFIGHTERS across the county could be set to strike in a bid to save Bovingdon Fire Station from the axe.
Hertfordshire crews will hold an industrial action ballot after county councillors last week voted through a series of controversial cuts aimed at shaving £500,000 off the annual fire service budget.
The cuts mean Bovingdon Fire Station will close with the 10 firefighters based there – who all fought the Buncefield blaze – losing their jobs.
Other cuts include the closure of Radlett Fire Station and reducing the number of firefighters at Hemel Hempstead, St Albans and Stevenage from 13 to 12 per watch.
Herts FBU chairman Ben Read said the union had given Herts Fire Authority seven days notice of its intention to ballot and is waiting on a response.
Industrial action would take the form of a ‘discontinuous strike’ - not working for part of a day.
“No one wants to take any form of industrial action but fire crews will not stand back and watch our service being torn apart,” an FBU spokesman said.
Meanwhile the Save Bovingdon Fire Station Action Group has teamed up with other campaign groups in the county and are getting legal advice as to whether they can seek a judicial review to get the cuts overturned.
It is also bidding to raise the £90,000-a-year cost of keeping Bovingdon Fire Station open themselves.
Anyone interested in helping the fundraising campaign can contact Sharon Sims at shazsims@btinternet.com
Update March 29
These firefighters helped battle the biggest blaze in peacetime Europe. Their reward? The axe
BOVINGDON Fire Station is to close after county councillors voted through a series of controversial cuts aimed at shaving £500,000 off the annual fire service budget.
Despite a huge public campaign and claims that axing the 100-year-old retained station will cost lives, the Bovingdon closure was voted through at a full meeting of Herts County Council yesterday (Tuesday) by a narrow 40 to 33 margin.
The 10 firefighters based at the station will lose their jobs.
Campaigners have reacted angrily and are already planning to seek a judicial review in a bid to get the closure overturned.
Station commander at Bovingdon, Jamie Fyfe, described the situation as 'a sad day for Bovingdon'.
“It was 40 councillors against one million Hertfordshire residents,” he said.
“This will open the door for other proposals.
“This is just the start of a slippery slope and I think they have got it wrong.
“Common sense has not prevailed,” he added.
Kathy Banks, chairman of the Save Bovingdon Fire Station Action Group, said people's safety was being put in jeopardy to save cash.
“I'm appalled that the Conservative county councillors were more interested in finance than the safety of the people of Hertfordshire,” she said.
Meanwhile vicar of Bovingdon, Tim Marshall, described the vote as 'a failure in local democracy'.
“This is a huge undermining of the moral and spiritual fabric of the village of Bovingdon,” he said.
And Richard Roberts, Conservative county councillor for Kings Langley, who voted against his own party in a bid to save the fire station, said he was 'gutted' by the outcome.
“It is quite tragic that the closure of Bovingdon Fire Station brings to an end 100 years of serving the community,” he said.
During the meeting numerous councillors argued passionately against the cuts, applauded loudly by scores of local campaigners and firefighters who turned out to witness the vote.
Liberal Democrat leader, county councillor Chris White, argued that the closure of Bovingdon Fire Station could not go ahead while the outcomes of the Buncefield investigation were unknown – Bovingdon firefighters were among the first on the scene.
And councillor Richard Roberts argued that with the absence of a fire station the people of Bovingdon and Flaunden would have to wait far longer for firefighters to arrive.
Many others took the opportunity to have their say on the cuts which also include the closure of Radlett Fire Station and reducing the number of firefighters at Hemel Hempstead, St Albans and Stevenage from 13 to 12 per watch.
But the man behind the plans, David Lloyd, executive member for Fire and Rescue, maintained that the proposals were right for Hertfordshire and would help fund fire prevention work.
He claimed that one of the reasons for the savings was a £400,000 shortfall in fire authority funds following the resolution of strike action in 2003 which led to a 17.5 per cent increase in pay – spread out over two years – for Herts firefighters.
But he said he took no pleasure in pushing through the cuts.
“The closure of Bovingdon and Radlett I propose in many ways with a heavy heart,” he said.
“None of us come here to say we wish to close down fire stations but I am convinced the level of fire cover in those areas is still more than adequate without those fire stations,” he added. He also said 'a lot of mention' had been made of Buncefield but pointed to Herts firefighters dealing with 365 other incidents during the disaster.
“If anything had gone wrong on any one of those we would have known about it – it would have been all over the papers,” he said.
“The fact we managed to deal with that and cover other incidents suggests we can cope,” he added.
Each of the 11 proposals making up the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service's Community Safety Plan were voted through by councillors.
After the meeting Sharon Sims of the Save Bovingdon Fire Station Action Group, said the battle would continue and that the group would join up with campaigners in Radlett and Royston to seek a judicial review.
They would also seek a High Court injunction in a bid to keep the station open while a review is in progress.
Should they not achieve this the station would close in June – to allow a three-month notice period for the ten retained firefighters based there.
News of Bovingdon and Radlett closing comes on the back of claims by Herts Fire Brigade's Union that several other stations in the area have been earmarked for future closure.
They say a leaked document shows county chiefs are looking at axing a further four fire stations including Kings Langley and Redbourn.
Herts County Council claim the document is a fake. Station factfile Ten firefighters are based at the Bovingdon station. They have a total of 150 years experience between them. Bovingdon is one of the largest villages in Hertfordshire with a population topping 5,000. The closure of Bovingdon will save around £90,000 a year.
Firefighters based at Bovingdon deal with an average of 100 emergency calls a year. Some £1.23 million was set aside by the county council to build a new state-of-the-art
fire station in Bovingdon but the cash was 're-prioritised' when the proposed closure was announced in July last year.
Update March 15
Bovingdon Fire Station – campaigners pin hopes on Blair Fight to save fire base goes to Downing St
CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save Bovingdon Fire Station will take the battle right to the top when they present their case to Number 10 Downing Street tomorrow, (Thursday, March 16).
The 100-year-old village station is facing closure in April as part of a raft of cuts being pushed through by Herts County Council in a bid to shave £500,000 from the Herts Fire Service annual budget.
Savings will go towards funding a countywide focus on fire prevention measures.
However the Bovingdon Fire Station Action Group argues that axing the station - to save around £90,000 – could put lives at risk.
Along with local Conservative MPs David Gauke and Mike Penning, members of the action group are handing in a business plan at Number 10 to save the station.
Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning said: “The Deputy Prime Minister [John Prescott] is secretary of state responsible for fire cover, but if he is not listening, all we can do is take it to the top and at the end of the day the Prime Minister is the top man.
“What we are trying to do is get Tony Blair to see the damage the government is doing to the community by forcing these cuts through,” Mr Penning said.
“The reason for these cuts is that Government wants more fire prevention work to be done locally, which we are all for, but they are not funding it.
“I think there is a very good case for keeping Bovingdon Fire Station open,” he added.
Action group member Sharon Sims said she hoped Tony Blair would see the document and step in to prevent the closure.
A final decision on the future of Bovingdon Fire Station is due to be made at a full meeting of Hertfordshire County Council on Tuesday, March 28.
Meanwhile David Gauke, MP for South West Herts, has personally written to each of the 77 councillors on Herts County Council calling on them to reject the proposal to close Bovingdon Fire Station.
In his letter he sets out the key arguments against the closure.
“I appreciate the difficult position the county councillors are in as a consequence of government policy,” his letter reads.
“However, this is a proposal which will result in a cut in service, put the lives and properties of many of my constituents at greater risk, and for little financial benefit.
“I urge you to reject the proposals to close Bovingdon Fire Station,” the letter concludes. Action Group’s arguments:
- 1. Closing the station will put lives at risk.
2. Bovingdon lies 80 metres above Hemel Hempstead and all approaches to the village from the east are via steep hills making it difficult for other fire stations to get to.
3. Nearby stations cannot consistently get to Bovingdon within the recommended 10 minute time period.
4. Bovingdon regularly helps cover incidents that Hemel Hempstead Fire Station – the busiest in Hertfordshire –
cannot. Closure would have a knock-on effect for the people of Hemel Hempstead.
5. The reliability of the data that Herts Fire and Rescue Service has based its decision on has been questioned by the action group.
6. Bovingdon firefighters play a vital role in the local community and actively promote fire safety.
7. There are numerous fire risks in Bovingdon including The Mount prison and Bovingdon Market which attracts up to 20,000 visitors.
8. Government plans to build thousands of new homes in the borough will place an additional burden on area's fire stations.
9. The savings made from closure would be far less than the predicted £90,000 as other stations’ costs would increase as they would attend more incidents.
10. The planned expansion of Luton Airport would lead to more cars on the road and an increased likelihood of road accidents.
February 8 report:
Influential team of councillors support plans to shut 999 base
THE fight to save Bovingdon Fire Station from the axe has suffered a setback after an influential council committee backed the controversial proposals.
A final decision on whether the 100-year-old station will be axed is due to be made by councillors at a full meeting of Hertfordshire County Council on Tuesday March 28.
However at a meeting on Monday (February 6) members of a special fire and rescue 'topic group' opted to support recommendations to shave £500,000 from the fire service's annual budget.
The decision came despite attempts by campaigners to persuade councillors that getting rid of Bovingdon Fire Station would put lives at risk.
Kathy Banks, of the Save Bovingdon Fire Station Action Group, said the decision had the potential to affect the final decision but vowed to continue the fight.
“We are not finished yet,” she said.
“We have got till March and if we can get further political pressure and future media pressure to get through to the other councillors we will do that,” she added.
Meanwhile the action group have accused councillors on the fire and rescue task group of paying lip service to their arguments for keeping the station.
“We don't feel they really considered our document and the point we are making,” she said.
“It is going to be very hard if they are all playing the political game,” she added.
County councillor Iain Laidlaw Dickson, who chaired the topic group, said the five members had come to a reasoned decision.
They voted by four to one to recommend the proposals.
“I am saddened if they felt that arguments from Bovingdon were not given due prominence,” he said.
“We were all very appreciative and complimentary about the information sent from Bovingdon.
“In the end we had to come to a judgement on whether the proposals were to be supported or not.
“It was not a case that everyone agreed all the way through.”
The proposals will now be discussed at an overview and scrutiny committee on March 8 before going on to be debated and voted on at a full meeting of Hertfordshire County Council on March 28.
Jan 18 News report
Fire meeting on back burner
A MEETING being held to decide the fate of Bovingdon Fire Station has been put back a month because of the Buncefield disaster, The Gazette can reveal.
Hertfordshire County Council had been due to make a decision on the
future of Bovingdon's 100-year-old retained fire station at a meeting on February 27.
 However, due to complications caused by last month's explosion, the meeting will instead be held on Tuesday, March 28 – less than a week before the proposed changes are timetabled to come into effect.
Pictured are campaigners out in Hemel town centre gathering support to fight the closure plans.
County Councillor David Lloyd, responsible for fire and rescue, said the time frame for holding the meeting at the end of February had always been tight and that Buncefield tipped it over the edge.
“With Buncefield happening officers are not going to be able to give due consideration to all the public comments,” Councillor Lloyd told The Gazette.
“It made far more sense to put it off a month so we can properly review it,” he added.
The proposed closure of Bovingdon Fire Station is one of a series of measures being pushed through by fire chiefs in a bid to shave £500,000 from the fire service's annual budget.
In light of the re-scheduled meeting, Herts County Council is set to vote on
a budget next month that does not take account of the proposed fire service savings.
If the proposals are voted down, the £500,000 hole in the council's accounts would be met with cash from county council reserves – currently standing at £15 million.
Councillor Lloyd said that the result of the vote was not a foregone conclusion.
“As I have always said, my decision will be made, as it has to be by law, at the end of the process not at the beginning of the process.
“Roy Wilsher [Hertfordshire's Chief Fire Officer] has a compelling case and I am very interested to hear what the public has to say,” he added.
Meanwhile Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning has called for any decision on the future of Bovingdon Fire Station to be put on hold until the findings of the Buncefield inquiry are released.
Mr Penning says the Buncefield disaster showed just how essential the Bovingdon fire service is and predicts the inquiry will reflect this.
“They [the county council] should wait until the end of the inquiry at least before they make any decisions on this,” he said.
“I think the inquiry will show that we need Bovingdon Fire Station.
“The inquiry will look into this and be much more in depth and independent.
“They should put the brakes on the closures and let's see what the inquiry comes up with,” he added.
Dec 21,2005 news report:
CAMPAIGNERS against the closure of Bovingdon Fire Station are set to send reports to county councillors in a bid to persuade them to vote against the proposals.
Plans to shut the 100-year-old station are set to be debated by all 77 Hertfordshire county councillors at a full council meeting on February 27.
Kathy Banks, chairman of the Save Bovingdon Fire Station Action Group, told the Gazette she hoped the reports would convince councillors that closure of the station is the wrong course of action.
“We are currently working on the document which will be sent to all the county councillors at the beginning of January,” she said.
“I think we have definitely got their attention and they will think very carefully about whether to give it the go-ahead,” she added.
Just last month campaigners presented county council chiefs with a 4,000-name petition in support of keeping the station open.
The proposed closure of Bovingdon Fire Station is one of a raft of measures aimed at shaving £500,000 off the service's annual budget.
Kathy Banks is calling on anyone wanting to help save the fire station to write to as many county councillors as possible to show their support for the campaign.
If you wish to help contact Kathy on 01442 832702.
LINK: Click Here to visit the Bovingdon Fire Station campaign website
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