Save Brighton fire station

Claire , who is involved in this campaign, mentioned this in the comments a week back.

She has sent me an e-mail with info, copied below :



You may have heard that a campaign has been launched to save Brighton's landmark Preston Circus Fire Station. You can find all the campaign details via the website www.savebrightonfirestation.com so please have a look when you next have a moment. Please also sign the petition on the No 10 website, which you do quickly and easily via this link: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Preston-Circus/ and pass this message onto all your contacts.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS) has announced plans to sell our fire station on the grounds that it's outdated and expensive to maintain. This is disputed by many local residents, as well as the Fire Brigades Union and local politicians. ESFRS has a large hole in its plans as the projected funds from the sale of the existing fire station won't cover the building of a new station unless firefighters' accommodation is also sold from various locations across Sussex. That endangers the ability to retain firefighters in those areas, as local property costs are high relative to firefighters' wages. Meanwhile, as property prices are currently depressed, ESFRS's budget remains shakey - can they realise sufficient funds to build a new station?

The next question is where would any new fire station be located? Currently, Preston Circus fire station is centrally located at a key junction of 5 routes from which the firefighters have quick and easy access to all parts of Brighton & Hove. That's vital when you're fighting fire. Also, local taxpayers have only just spent over a million improving the building, so it's hardly outdated.

The fire station also plays a key part in the London Road community - itself an area of decline which the Council is trying to reverse. Losing the fire station would be another blow to the London Road and it is not clear what might happen to the building itself, which is one of the architectural highpoints of that area.

I could go on but, really, the website says it all more succinctly than me, so please do have a look via that link above. There's details on the home page of who to write to but, at least, please sign the petition on the No 10 website, which you do quickly and easily via this link: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Preston-Circus/.


Thanks to Claire for this , she will keep us updated. There is also a Face Book group as well.