Manea Fire Station is a crucial community asset which I have long supported. So it was good to meet with Rhys Fenn Acting Watch Commander, Crew Commander Roland Rimmer, Councillor Charlie Marks and Parish Chairman Ben Bonos, but concerning that Cambridgeshire Fire Authority is considering a re-organisation which would close Manea and seek to transfer firefighters elsewhere. This would be a big mistake and something I will campaign strongly to prevent.
Manea Fire Station is essential to meeting the required key response time of 12 minutes, given the distance from other stations and nature of our Fen roads. The retained fire fighters often cover key periods on Fri evenings and weekends, and they also respond to road traffic accidents and incidents in our waterways.
We have been through this before as the Cambridgeshire Fire Authority previously tried this based on flawed data. Having discussed this with Rhys, Roland, Charlie and Ben it sounds like flawed data is once again being used, shaped by actions such as restricting access to the next new recruits training slots in January.
Manea fire station must stay. Our rural location requires a local crew and the role of retained fire fighters makes it good value for money. I have already phoned the Minister for the Fire Service to discuss this flawed scheme from Cambridgeshire and he has agreed to investigate this proposal, and will follow up with the Chief Fire Officer next week. Similar plans are also proposed for Sutton and Kimbolton which need investigation too.
The sooner this misguided proposal creating unnecessary uncertainty can be addressed, the better. We are fortunate to have such a fantastic crew in Manea, and need to keep it.