So how much would it cost to build a new School?

Good Luck getting through them lads

So how much would it cost to build a new school?

To be honest I do not have a clue but looking at some of the information posted on the excellent and really informative Save Blaina Firestation page on Facebook, I read a few facts, figures and news that got me wondering on several different levels about just that.

First off, was the information that the cost of cover for Blaina Fire Station with their 100% availability record is £222,451 per year which is considerably less than that of Ebbw Vale Fire Station who require £1,413,618 per year to run.

However, I do not want to turn this article into a "our availability performance is better than yours" type of story.  Truth is, both stations provide a superb service and both deserve more money spent on them, as do all five fire stations in Blaenau Gwent, especially with the building of the new race track in the Ebbw Vale area.

No, the reason I posted the above costs was to ask if Blaina Station was closed, would Blaina ratepayers get a 20% reduction in the rates they pay towards the running of these stations as compensation for the increased insurance premiums people in Blaina would more than likely have to pay for not having adequate fire cover from the Fire Service.

And talking of costs I also read the news that Wales can expect the worst weather in decades, with blizzards and freezing conditions starting around about the end of November.  Remember if the Fire Service have their way, Blaina could be closed before Christmas.

Now the other day, I imagined a horror scenario in which Blaina Fire Station had been closed by the bean counters, Abertillery Fire Pump was out on a call and Brynmawr Fire Station were off the run and so the fire engine responding to a call from East Pentyn School had to travel from Ebbw Vale.

I then spoke about the road conditions and extra length of time it would take Ebbw Vale to get to our school compared to the few minutes it would have taken, had Blaina Fire Station not been closed.

Now imagine the same scenario but forget if you can for the moment the children whose lives are at risk, the bean counters talk about costs so let us get down and get dirty with them.

A blizzard is raging, cars are blocking the roads where they have become stuck in the snow, and the fire crew of Ebbw Vale, despite heroic efforts are unable to fight their way through them to Blaina and so what might have been a simple fire, with just some damage to a single school room, means that now the entire building is lost, whereas if Blaina Station had not been closed, they could have still got to the school in time to save it despite the bad weather.

So just how much would it cost to build a new school, or is that something the bean counters did not factor in when they played with their abacuses?

Who knows, perhaps they did think of the above scenario and just did not care, knowing that the insurance companies would have to foot the bill before clawing back the money by increasing the premiums for the people who pay insurance in the Blaina area?