Fire engine cut for York gets green light

Members of North Yorkshire Fire Authority agreed yesterday to relocate one of the centre’s two engines to Huntington fire station, after senior officers claimed it would improve the service to 31,000 residents in towns and villages to the north of York.

The members agreed to a series of conditions proposed by York councillor and authority vice chairman Ken King.

They included:

• A commitment for officers to review the impact, 12 months after the change comes into effect

• The proposed new fire station in Kent Street to have three bays, so the second engine could be brought back into the centre if the change was found to be a mistake

• A promise that the change will not be used later as an excuse for fire cuts

The change had been fiercely resisted by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and York conservation watchdogs, who were concerned that a reduction in city-centre fire cover would put medieval timber-framed buildings and their occupants at increased risk if the buildings caught fire.

The proposal was put on hold by the authority earlier this year in the face of protests from the FBU and organisations such as York Civic Trust and York Conservation Trust, with officers instructed to carry out a further analysis.

The officers recently said they were sticking by the proposals following their review, albeit with the relocated pump acting as a “roaming appliance” within the outer ring road during the day when traffic was heavier.

York Green councillor Dave Taylor said yesterday the city centre’s Victorian terraces, as well the timber-framed and nationally important heritage buildings, were at greater risk than more modern suburbs.

Steve Howley, of the FBU, told councillors it remained strongly opposed to the move from existing station in Clifford Street to a new fire station in Kent Street, at a time of austerity, as well as the reduction in the number of city centre fire engines.

He said afterwards he was “very disappointed” by the decision.