I WRITE in response to the letter from Rab headlined Money to Burn on March 11.
The reason for the proposal to build a new fire station at Saughall Massie is not because Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service has money to burn, quite the opposite.
Due to the ongoing cuts in Government grants, £6.3m savings have to be made in 2015/16 alone, meaning that the service can no longer afford to staff all its current fire stations.
Consequently, the proposal out for public consultation is to close Upton and West Kirby fire stations and build a new station, serving both areas, at Saughall Massie.
The alternative is to close West Kirby outright and retain Upton.
However, doing this would increase response times to the West Kirby station area by over two minutes and there would be areas where we could not meet our 10-minute response standard at all, hence the proposal to close two stations and build in a more 'central' location.
Further details on the current public consultation, including dates and locations for public meetings to discuss the proposals, can be found at merseyfire.gov.uk
Dan Stephens, Merseyside’s chief fire officer.
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