Fire chiefs urged to guarantee long-term future of Edinburgh's Marionville fire station
‘Our communities have worked tirelessly to keep Marionville open’ - David Strachan, FBU rep
Fire chiefs were today urged to guarantee the long-term future o Edinburgh’s Marionville fire station after agreeing it should not close as part of a Scotland-wide shake-up of fire services.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) had wanted to shut the station in Lochend, which contains RAAC crumbly concrete, and relocate its fire engine and crew to Newcraighall. But after a sustained campaign to save Marionville, senior fire officers recommended the SFRS board should not proceed with the planned closure at the moment.
Instead, they said they would carry out detailed analysis and modelling of potential station locations in the Edinburgh area. And they added: “It is appropriate not to proceed with the Edinburgh component whilst additional work is carried out and pertinent information obtained.”
The board heard there had been “significant and strong public and political opposition to the Marionville option” which included concerns about population growth, response times, and a feeling the proposal did not take account of the risk associated with industrial and other high risk sites in Leith and North Edinburgh.
Chief fire officer Stuart Stevens said the feedback from the consultation process had provided “substantial, thoughtful and insightful” observations to be considered in relation to the Marionville proposal.
He said: “There are clearly a number of emerging and existing unique factors within Edinburgh that require further assurances before we can proceed or accept those response times that are set out within the Case for Change pack. Primarily this relates to significant commercial, residential and industrial developments that have taken place in Marionville and the broader Edinburgh area and I was not assured that we had fully considered all of those.”
The board unanimously agreed not to proceed with the Marionville closure. But it gave the go-ahead for the closure of Musselburgh fire station and the relocation of its fire engine and crew to Tranent, where a new station is to be built - a plan which the board was told was “well received” at public meetings.
David Strachan, FBU rep at Marionville, said: “Today’s decision by the board is a promising step in the right direction. We pay tribute to them for listening to the concerns of our communities. We’ve made the case for the last two years that this area requires a fire station and the board clearly don’t disagree.
“Today’s decision however is no guarantee for the fire station’s future. The case to close Marionville fire station is not strong enough as we’ve always maintained and, even with further analysis as suggested by SFRS, we don’t believe a convincing case can ever be built.
“SFRS must now commit to Marionville’s long term future. Our communities have had two years of anxiety over this proposal. We all now deserve clarity.
“Our communities have worked tirelessly to campaign to keep Marionville open, as have our local politicians. We will continue to make the case that Marionville’s future needs to be secured and that starts now.”
Katherine Sangster, Labour MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, welcomed the decision not to close Marionville. “It’s the right thing to do and a huge relief. It’s because of the hard work of the FBU and the big community campaign that they’ve listened and made this decision.
“And whatever they do, they have to make sure that side of town is appropriately served. They produced evidence that there were fewer house fires, but we have wildfires and flooding now, so all that needs to be taken into account.”
And she said the closure of Musselburgh and building a new fire station in Tranent was backed by the FBU and the staff concerned.