Last Meeting of Tayside Fire and Rescue Board

Monday morning saw the final meeting of Tayside Fire and Rescue Board in advance of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service taking over on 1st April.  It was  a relatively quiet meeting as many of the issues will become the responsibility of the new Scottish Fire and Rescue Board in just over a week's time.

I will miss the Tayside Fire and Rescue Board, I felt that Tayside did deliver an excellent service.  Tayside was particularly strong on prevention and especially home fire safety visits.  I also thought that the board did an excellent job of representing the views of local people.  It is crucial that the new national service is able to listen to the views of local people.  Whilst this is going to be a national service it is important that the views of people in Dundee or Tayside are listened to.

For example, twice as a member of the Tayside Fire Board I voted to retain full-time cover at Balmossie Fire Station.  I did so  because thousands of people in Broughty Ferry, Monifieth and the surrounding areas made clear that they were not convinced that the case had been made to change the cover they received locally.

I know that the new national service has some excellent officers such as the new Chief Officer, Alasdair Hay, who was previously with Tayside Fire and Rescue Service.  I wish him and his team all the very best as they take over.  I know that they will see having a responsive service which pays attention to local needs is important.

The new national Fire and Rescue service is based temporarily in Perth.  If that is not going to be a long-term option then I think that the headquarters should be in Dundee.  There is an excellent facility on Blackness Road which could easily be used as the national headquarters.