A coalition of Conservative and Liberal Democrat Councillors have dealt the death blow to hopes that the Gloucestershire town of Painswick would keep its fire station and six retained fire officers in their jobs.
Labour took the Gloucestershire County Council's (GCC) cabinet decision to use a process known as a ‘call-in’ which is occasionally employed when it is felt a decision may have been wrongly reached – this meant that the council’s decision to close the station could be scrutinised after residents were given access to the consultation. The call-in argued that the council used misleading figures around the amount of call outs that Painswick fire officers attended, and that the consultation used leading questions to get the answers they wanted.
Trevor French, secretary of the FBU in the south west, said: “The consultation was totally misleading, and the figures relating to Painswick station incident turn outs in the consultation were wrong. There were two separate questions rolled into one question, and the service dismissed alternatives to the station closure with no explanation whatsoever - the phrase “professional judgement” is not an explanation.
“The FBU asked the public a straightforward question, ‘Do you think Painswick fire station should close?’ and the response was a resounding no. The FBU will now be holding an emergency brigade committee to discuss the closure of Painswick fire station and the underhand means by which it has been achieved.”
