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Fire service – book now and have your say!
Does Shipston need to have an on-call fire station? What is a surge station and how will that work for the town?
Come along to the Townsend Hall on 5th March to hear plans for the future of Shipston’s Fire Station. This session, organised for Shipston, is hosted by Warwickshire County Council and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service. It is part of a public consultation into proposed changes to the Service’s delivery model.
The event starts at 6.30pm and will finish at 8pm. It is free, but places are limited, so anyone wanting to attend must book a ticket. These are allocated on a first come, first served basis. If the event is fully booked, there will be an opportunity to join a waiting list. Book on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/warwickshire-fire-andrescue-76075908553/ or by telephone by calling 01926 410410.
If you can’t come along, please note that the public consultation period finishes very soon, on 10th March 2024. Until then, you can find out more and say what you think about Warwickshire Fire and Rescue’s Resourcing to Risk model on the consultation website: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/ask. It has details on the proposed changes, on-call availability data and response times.
Fast Response
Shipston’s First Responders were the busiest Community First Responders team in the whole of the Coventry & Warwickshire sector of the West Midlands Ambulance Service during February, responding to 49 serious callouts.
First Responders are trained by the Ambulance Service to attend lifethreatening 999 emergency calls. They aim to be on the scene of an incident in 10 minutes and keep patients stable, bridging the gap between the 999 call and the ambulance arriving.
The team predicts that callouts will continue to be high while the pressures on the NHS and ambulance service persist and says that waiting times for ambulances have increased in the past year.
Shipston’s First Responders are seeking a replacement vehicle, and fundraising is also underway for a second car to help them cover not just Shipston but a wide rural area, with donations gratefully accepted at www.justgiving.com/campaign/shipstonfirstresponders.
Could you be part of the team? They are recruiting both in Shipston and the villages in the area.
Contact stuart@shipstonfirstresponders.org
They are shortly to become a registered charity and continue to be grateful for all the support that they are given by the town.
New look for SAFE
SAFE – Stourvale Action for the Environment – has a new logo.
SAFE is a non-party political group of ordinary people from Shipston and the surrounding villages who are concerned about the climate and ecological emergency which faces us all.
Watch out for the logo appearing more frequently as SAFE gets ready for the events being planned for Great Big Green Week, which this year takes place between 8th and 16th June.
Great Big Green Week, according to the organisation’s website, is the UK’s biggest-ever celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature. Every year it brings people together to unleash a wave of support for action to protect the planet. Tens of thousands of people in every corner of the country celebrate the heartfelt, brave, everyday actions being taken to stand up for nature and fight climate change.
There are some things which everyone can do to help mitigate the environmental problems. If you would like to be involved and find out more, please get in touch with Verity Richardson on email: verityrichardson@gmail.com or by phone 07929 889091
Fire consultation: your views matter
Plans for the future of Shipston’s Fire Station will now be heard in the town on 5th March, after Warwickshire County Council arranged an additional public consultation specially for Shipston.
As the Fire Authority, WCC has been running a public consultation and a series of events – initially only at Stratford, Kenilworth, Atherstone, Bedworth and Southam, with none in the south of the county – to give residents, businesses, community groups and public sector partners a say on Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Resourcing to Risk proposals.
The Shipston event was added after the Town Council made it clear that the town would like a voice on this hot topic. It will be held at Townsend Hall, from 6.30pm-8pm. Places are limited, so anyone wanting to attend must book a ticket. These are allocated on a first come, first served basis. If the event is fully booked, there will be an opportunity to join a waiting list.
Book on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/warwickshire-fire-andrescue-76075908553/
The public consultation period runs until 10 March 2024. Find out more and respond to Warwickshire Fire and Rescue’s Resourcing to Risk on the consultation website: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/ask. It has detail on the proposed model, on-call availability data and response times.
WCC’s fire and rescue spokesman Cllr Andy Crump said: “This proposal [Resourcing to Risk] isn’t about cutting costs or closing fire stations. It’s about making sure that we’ve got our resource in the right place to make the best difference when an emergency happens.
“We’re keen to give people a chance to hear from us in person and to ask any questions they may have. No decisions will be made until the consultation is over, so we hope our residents will take this opportunity and join us at one of our information sessions to find out more.”
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Community Engagement spokesperson Gosia Zielinska says: “Everyone’s views matter! Take time to read all the information on the consultation website and complete the online survey. You can also email us on WFRSR2R@warwickshire.gov.uk if you have any questions about the consultation.”
New community orchard
An enthusiastic and willing band of 30 volunteers gathered early on a wintry but sunny Saturday morning in January to plant a new orchard at Cornmill Meadows, Shipston’s newest local wildlife site.
Cllr Hilary Kelly reported: “A mix of trees were planted to increase the biodiversity there. Thanks to Lawns2mow, the holes had already been dug, but compost had to be added to the soil, tree guards and tree ties had to be fitted and then a good helping of mulch added to help with moisture retention. Eventually apples, pears, plums, greengages and damsons will repay all our hard work.”