The issue on everyone's mind is the future of Radlett's Fire Station. It is threatened with closure as part of a "modernising" plan which involves saving money. Radlett is one of only a handful of fire stations within Hertfordshire which is run by part-time firefighters. This makes it cheap to run (£90,000 per annum) and easier to close as the firefighter's union won't make such a fuss about laying off part-time staff. The saving is trivial for a community such as this - less than £3 per household per annum, which everyone here would be happy to pay to keep our local firefighters.

However, the politicians didn't take into account the real community spirit in this village. There are "Save Radlett Fire Station NOW!" signs everywhere and over 2,000 households (out of a total of around 3,000) have personally written to the Fire Chief to object to the plans. Their main concern is the time it would take in future for a fire engine to get to a fire here in Radlett or the surrounding rural areas. The Fire Chief's computer "proves" that an engine will get here in a few minutes but anyone who is familiar with the traffic congestion around here at certain times of the day knows this is problematic to say the least. Another issue is that it is policy for at least two fire engines to be on hand before they can tackle a residential fire. At present, the Radlett crew back up the Borehamwood (three miles away) crew in Borehamwood more than 100 times a year. The Borehamwood crew similarly back up Radlett for fires here (about 30 per year). If Radlett closes, Borehamwood will be out on its own with no backup crews within 10 miles.

The decision on closing the Radlett Fire Station was to be made by Hertfordshire County Councillors this month (February) but it has been postponed until the very last minute - at the end of March. This may mean that a deal is on the cards as the proposed closure date is 1 April 2006.

Further details about the campaign to save our Fire Station can be found here
The official line from Herts Fire Service is also worth a read here