Fire station closure could harm public - union

Plans to close a Surrey fire station could be detrimental to public safety, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has said.

Banstead fire station could move to Godstone under proposals by Surrey Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS).

The fire service said moving the station nine miles away would still mean the average response time to a critical emergency would still be under the 10-minute target.

But FBU secretary Karl Jones called on the service to find a different location as “the public should not be exposed to potential greater response times”.

SFRS said Banstead fire station was not fit for purpose and crews have to visit other fire stations to carry out their training, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The service said there was no other appropriate location in Banstead.

Mr Jones said: “We emphasise that the closure of Banstead fire station could have severe consequences, as a typical house fire can double in intensity every minute.”

The average response time to critical incidents in Reigate and Banstead is seven minutes and 23 seconds.

Moving the station to Godstone would increase this to eight minutes and three seconds, according to SFRS’s draft community risk management plan.

The average response time for Tandridge is eight minutes and 42 seconds, which would be cut by 10 seconds.

But Mark Johnston, the Liberal Democrat’s parliamentary candidate for Reigate and Banstead, said he was unconvinced the data was accurate.

He said the response times were only averaged across the borough as a whole and did not take into account new developments in the area.

SFRS said it was confident its response time estimation software was accurate. The service added it was made aware of new developments in Surrey and consulted on them in relation to access and hydrants.

The average response time to primary fires in England and Wales was nine minutes and 13 seconds, according to the most recent Home Office data.

A service spokesperson said: “We will still ensure that we can respond to emergencies in the Banstead area swiftly and with the appropriate resources and equipment when needed.

"We will also ensure that we continue to work with communities in Banstead to prevent these emergencies in the first place.”

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