Havenbridge House in Great Yarmouth
Norfolk County Council to lobby government to try to save Great Yarmouth coastguard
by DAN GRIMMER
Public affairs correspondent
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
10:10 AM
Norfolk County Council is to lobby the government to reverse its decision to close the coastguard station at Great Yarmouth because of fears a loss of local knowledge could cost lives.
The Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, based at Havenbridge House, is to close as part of government plans to reduce the number of centres in the UK from 19 to 11.
That will mean emergencies will be handled by control centre staff as far away as Humberside or Southampton.
But, at a meeting of Norfolk County Council’s full council yesterday, it was agreed that County Hall would call on the government to think again, following a motion put by Paul Rice, Conservative county councillor for South Smallburgh and a former coastguard rescue officer.
He said: “A core role of this council is to speak up for the people of Norfolk on matters crucial to the wellbeing of this county.
“In this case, the county council believes the maxim that ‘local knowledge saves lives’ has been demonstrated time and time again across our coastline.
“This council must work hard to retain local knowledge within Norfolk and thus safeguard the wellbeing of our residents and those who work off our shores.”
Colleen Walker, Labour county councillor for Gorleston’s Magdalen ward, welcomed the motion.
She said: “We feel this would cost more lives and put the safety of British waters on our coastline in severe jeopardy.
“Let us hope and pray that for the tiny savings they are making this will not cost us a life.”
Tom Garrod, Conservative county councillor for Yarmouth North and Central Division and a volunteer crew member of Caister lifeboat, said: “It is vital for our crew to have someone on the end of the radio who knows about the current situation.”
Richard Howitt, the Norfolk and Suffolk Euro MP, has led a campaign against the closure, warning that the decision would lead to a disaster.
The Yarmouth station is set to close at an unspecified date between now and March 2015.
dan.grimmer@archant.co.uk
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Most commented
5 comments
Let's hope the letter to the government isn't penned by Cllr Mackie - the last one he fired off came within a whisker of Contempt of Parliament!
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Fenscape
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Brandon Lewis and the rest of the useless rubbish on Gt Yarmouth Borough Council are strangely silent ? Perhaps it's them being secretive, or is it because it does not involve their precious seafront !.
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"V"
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
This seems all rather late in the day, and something of a damascene conversion. Whichever way you look at it, a bunch of Tory MPs and a Tory-run County Council have either connived at or tacitly agreed with the Coalition Government in their closure of this station. The North Sea off Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex is, and will be, busier with shipping than it has been for many decades, and that hardly seems the right time to close the only coastguard station between Humber and Dover. Perhaps the "Costa Concordia" disaster in Italy might get some of intellectual giants (or is it gnats?) thinking again about the closure, and prompt them to find some spine rather than following the Tory Party line like sheep.
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T Doff
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
This seems all rather late in the day, and something of a damascene conversion. Whichever way you look at it, a bunch of Tory MPs and a Tory-run County Council have either connived at or tacitly agreed with the Coalition Government in their closure of this station. The North Sea off Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex is, and will be, busier with shipping than it has been for many decades, and that hardly seems the right time to close the only coastguard station between Humber and Dover. Perhaps the "Costa Concordia" disaster in Italy might get some of intellectual giants (or is it gnats?) thinking again about the closure, and prompt them to find some spine rather than following the Tory Party line like sheep.
Report this comment
T Doff
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
This seems all rather late in the day, and something of a damascene conversion. Whichever way you look at it, a bunch of Tory MPs and a Tory-run County Council have either connived at or tacitly agreed with the Coalition Government in their closure of this station. The North Sea off Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex is, and will be, busier with shipping than it has been for many decades, and that hardly seems the right time to close the only coastguard station between Humber and Dover. Perhaps the "Costa Concordia" disaster in Italy might get some of intellectual giants (or is it gnats?) thinking again about the closure, and prompt them to find some spine rather than following the Tory Party line like sheep.
Report this comment
T Doff
Tuesday, January 17, 2012