On Friday, the High Court
rejected Hackney Council's legal challenge to Boris Johnson's plan to
close Kingsland Fire Station, potentially jeopardising lives in De
Beauvoir.
The process started in
January 2013, Boris Johnson announced that he has earmarked the fire
station on Kingsland Road, on the eastern edge of De Beauvoir, as one
of 12 stations across the capital that he wants to close.
His closure plans were
resisted by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA),
which runs the London Fire Brigade (LFB) and whose general policy is
set by the mayor of London. The LFEPA asked for the parts of the
plan reducing front-line fire-fighting capacity to be removed from Mr
Johnson's strategic plans for the LFB and it suggested an alternative
budget to avoid the closure of fire stations or the axing of
firefighters. Mr Johnson responded by taking the unusual step of
issuing a “direction” to the LFEPA, ordering it to implement his
plan without any amendment despite it being resisted by not only the LFEPA but also by a
majority of the London Assembly and by 94% of the public responding
to a consultation.
LFEPA members voiced
scepticism of Mr Johnson's claims that the closures had been made
necessary by fiscal constraint and the need to save money, pointing
out that Mr Johnson proposed a 10% reduction in the Council Tax
precept over the course of his mayoral term, representing a penny a
day cut in Council Tax for Londoners.
Mayor of Hackney Jules
Pipe commented on how dangerous Mr Johnson's closure plans really
are, saying “I understand the need to make savings, but response
times are absolutely vital in fire fighting and these cuts come at a
time when our borough’s population and tourism economy is
continuing to grow – we need more support, not less.”
Paul Embery, of the Fire
Brigades Union was blunter in his criticism: “These cuts
represent the biggest threat to the ability of the London Fire
Brigade to function since the days of the Blitz.”
The wards closest to the
Kingsland Road fire station will be hit hard and response times will
increase most strikingly in De Beauvoir from 4.24 to 7.37
minutes (according to the LFB), much higher than the fire brigade's
6-minute target average time for the first fire engine to arrive at
an emergency, a policy that is designed to ensure residents' safety.
Labour London Assembly
Member Jennette Arnold OBE said “This might not sound a lot but
a fire can quadruple in intensity every two minutes.”
That is why Jules Pipe has been lobbying Mr
Johnson and the chair of the LFEPA since Hackney Council took a
formal position opposing the closure plans in October 2012 and it is
why Hackney Council joined 6 other London councils to bring a legal
challenge to the fire station closures.
Cllr Sophie Linden,
Deputy Mayor of Hackney, explained the reasons for the Council's
legal challenge: “We have decided to take this joint action in order to protect the lives of many Londoners,
including the most vulnerable members of our community.”
“We are doing
everything within our power to protect residents from the
consequences of this flawed and damaging decision and ensure that
stations are kept open and firefighters positions are not lost.”
Following the High
Court's judgment, Cllr Linden said herself to be “very
disappointed with this result. But I am more disappointed that the
Mayor of London chose to ignore the very real concerns of residents
to force through these plans which put lives at risk.”
“As a result of
these damaging cuts, a third of Hackney will now fall outside London
Fire Brigade’s recommended response time and residents in De
Beauvoir ward will have to wait more than three minutes longer for
vital, life-saving assistance.”
The Council is
considering an appeal against the judgment.
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