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Residents in Waltham Forest will be put at risk if the Mayor’s plans to privatise Fire Brigade 999 call handling go ahead, warn the borough’s Liberal Democrat Councillors.
Conservatives on the London Fire Authority backed by Mayor Boris Johnson propose to contract out the Fire Brigade Control Room that handles over 200,000 emergency 999 calls a year. They intend to push their controversial plan through before voters get a say in next May’s Mayoral and London Assembly elections, when controversial Conservative LFEPA boss Cllr Brian Coleman risks being ousted.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Farooq Qureshi said:
“I was shocked to hear of this plan. It makes no sense to separate the people answering 999 calls from the rest of the Fire Brigade. There are no private companies with a decent track record in this highly specialised fire safety work. It will just end up costing more money as the Fire Brigade will need an army of staff to check the private call handlers are getting it right. This is all about Conservative dogma rather than what is best for local residents’ safety.”
The Fire Brigade’s Union is also strongly opposed to the privatisation plan.
Commenting on the sell off Liberal Democrat Candidate for Mayor of London, Brian Paddick said:
“As a former police chief I recognise that control rooms are an essential part of the emergency response. Privatising the fire brigade control room runs the risk of providing a second class service at a higher cost to the public.”
Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that Waltham Forest Council have failed to meet their own targets for paying local businesses within 10 days for 7 out of the last 8 months. And they have only once met their targets for paying small businesses on time since last April 2011.
Leyton Orient FC, backed by Waltham Forest Council, approached The Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) who own the Eton Manor site which is in Leyton, with a bid to take over the planned hockey stadium and turn it into a football and rugby stadium after the Olympics. The Orient bid would in the words of Barry Hearn, make the post Olympic Eton Manor area more sustainable and enable the football club to remain in Leyton. He said that if he could not move to Eton Manor then the club was likely to move out of the area or fade away. A detailed financial appraisal was presented to LVRP Executive committee in November. The Executive referred its decision to a Special Authority meeting on the 15th December.
Local campaigners fought hard to save Harrow Green Library as it is, with paid staff and current opening hours. Regrettably the council refused to change their plans.
The only Police station open 24 hours in Waltham Forest is Chingford. The others are closed most of the early hours.
Last Thursday the Labour Council voted to close down Harrow Green Library. Residents had raised a petition of over 5,000 signatures and local Lib Dems had also raised a petition of over 1,1000 signatures to save the library.