Mike's Columns in the Portsmouth News
Fighting to save Copnor Fire Station
I have been fighting the closure of Copnor Fire Station for some twenty years. So while it saddens me, it doesn’t surprise me that once again there is a proposal to shut it.
This is despite a recent knife-edge vote that would have saved it. My colleague, Cllr Michael Andrewes recently made a deputation to Hampshire Fire Authority saying that the station should be saved and the proposal to axe it should be taken out of their draft plan. All nine Lib Dem councillors along with two others – the Labour and Tory authority members for Portsmouth voted for that. But they were defeated on the Tory Chairman’s casting vote by ten Conservative councillors and one Labour councillor.
So, last week saw a heated public meeting as part of the Authority’s consultation on closing Copnor with senior fire officers outlining their reasons. Were people convinced? No! At the end of meeting a vote showed everyone there wanted Copnor kept open with not one dissenting voice.
One man told how, overcome by smoke, and with his feet on fire he had been pulled to safety by firefighters from Copnor just as another crew from another station arrived. He well might not be here today to tell the story if Copnor had been shut.
Of course, although the Chief Fire Officer said it was not “just about money”, selling the Copnor site would bring in a considerable amount of money. Fire Service figures show the current three stations provide a very good service. So, if then it really isn’t about money, why do they want to shut Copnor?
You just need to look at the geography of Portsmouth. Most of it is an island, more densely populated than any city in the UK outside London with only three routes on and off and often unfortunately massive traffic congestion and gridlock. All this means, I and many others believe, that we have to keep Copnor to maintain adequate fire cover for a vast amount of the city and I will be campaigning for that.
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