MEMBERS of the public scrutinised plans to close a fire station as a campaign to keep it open continues to build momentum.

Walney Community Centre hosted a drop-in session yesterday (23/11) for residents to find out about proposals by Cumbria County Council to close Walney Fire Station and move its appliance to Barrow.

The plan, prompted by the latest round of budget cuts, has been met with opposition from many local people who are worried response times to 999 calls will inevitably increase.

Mike Wilkinson, Walney Fire Station's Fire Brigades Union secretary, opposes the decision, citing the station's 150 fire calls so far this year.

He said: "One of the main reasons we think it's a backward step is simply because at the moment when our alarms go off we will be at the station and ready to go out of the door within five minutes.

"They want us to man the appliance still at Barrow but we all live on Walney. We will have to travel past Walney Fire Station to come to Barrow. It's going to take us anywhere between ten and 20, 25, minutes just to get to the fire engine.

"If there was a big saving to be made and the response times would stay I could understand it. But the response times will increase massively."

A total of five fire stations are under threat due to the council cuts, with the others being Arnside, Staveley, Lazonby and Frizzington.

The cash-strapped authority has to cut £80m from its spending in the next three years.

It is estimated that the closures would save more than £300,000 a year from the budget.

John McVay, area manager for Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service, was one of the officers present at the session yesterday, handing out information packs and answering questions from members of the public.

He said: "I believe it's the right thing to do. I don't think it increases the risk at all.

"It's not just driven by financial savings, it's looking at the risk of the Walney area and the availability of appliances."

Roger Exley, station manager at CFRS, added: "From a managerial point of view it will make here a safer area to live. It's extremely difficult to recruit on Walney.

"We are looking at very difficult challenges because of the county council savings."

Syd Greenhalgh, 80, of Warren Street, Walney, was one of the local residents who popped along to the Central Drive venue to find out about the proposals.

He said: "They should keep it open. We live on Walney and we feel it should stay.

"They have explained everything to us and if they ever have the bridge up they will make sure there would be a fire engine on Walney if they did close the station."

Labour's Frank Cassidy, who represents Walney South on Cumbria County Council, said: “I have been a trade unionist for 40 years and my first instinct is to defend jobs and services wherever possible.

“This Tory government is holding a gun to the council’s head. We have been ordered to make new cuts of £17.5m for the coming year and told to find off-the-scale savings of £80m by 2018. 

"Even some local Conservatives say David Cameron and his gang are going way over the top.

“The council has launched a consultation that will run until January 22 and I would urge as many people as possible to have their say. 

"It is not an empty exercise – people’s views will be taken into consideration before the council agrees its budget in February and along the way I will be listening to as many people as I can.

“But in the final analysis this is what the people voted for at the general election last May. The voters were offered Tory austerity or Labour’s alternative and they chose austerity.

“Now we have austerity. This is what it feels like.”

A public consultation on the changes is taking place and is due to end in January, with a decision due in February.