What would be the real cost of closing Blaina Fire Station?

We will not let them take this Station from us Margaret

Now I believe I have found the real reason why Blaina Fire Station has been selected for closure and it has nothing to do with saving a few pounds but rather making millions of pounds for the friends of politicians who have laid covetous eyes on organisations like the NHS and Fire Service, that they could make big money from, if were they privatised.

Well if those are the plans, then we will know about them in the fullness of time but for now we will just concentrate on our own part of the battle field that is Blaina.

The state of play at the moment is this.

The Fire and Rescue Service of South Wales, on the orders of unknown mean bean counters, and possibly as a result of government pressure, have instructed their messenger boy, Chief Fire Officer Huw Jakeway to present a proposal to a full council meeting in Ebbw Vale on Monday 7th October, as to why they/he intends to close Blaina Fire Station.

The information in the proposal has now been discovered to contain false information by Councillor Lisa Winnet, the insertion of incorrect information was either a genuine research mistake or inserted deliberately to achieve the goal of the proposal which is the closure of Blaina Fire Station.

If the false information was a mistake then the person responsible should be sacked, if deliberate, the person responsible should be prosecuted and imprisoned.

The Fire Brigade Union have rightly condemned the planned closure and assigned Mark Watt to represent the Blaina Fire Crew, although some people have asked how a man may be expected to cross swords with his boss (who is Huw Jakeway) without jeopardising his own position.

So what happens at this meeting in Ebbw Vale?

Well Huw Jakeway will, if he has any honour, inform the council that the information contained in it has been discovered to be incorrect, apologise and inform the council that he will return in the future (never) to submit a proposal with information that is fact and not fiction.

Do I think Huw Jakeway will do the decent thing?

Tough one to call.  Huw may be stupid (he should have checked the proposal) but he is a cunning fox when it comes to playing politics and advancing himself.  He must know that he is on a hiding to nothing and so hopefully he will sacrifice the bean counters who gave him crap ammunition and walk away with just a little bit of egg on his face that can soon be washed away.

What if Huw does not withdraw the inaccurate proposal and pushes it forward as fact?

Well in the first instance Huw Jakeway will be revealed as a charlatan to the entire world, with his personal reputation ruined and his name becoming synonymous with mud.

We would then be into the 2nd stage of the proposal, which is a period of time in which politicians, businesses and the general public may give reasons in the online survey that they are carrying out on this site here as to why Blaina Fire Station should be saved.

Fill it in please because the Fire Service will make their official announcement to close the station in early December.

So then, the fun really begins and the people of the valley will go to war and widen it from a small local skirmish into a major battle that the bean counters at the Fire Service or the political carpet baggers have no chance in hell of winning.

So what will it cost to close Blaina Fire Station?

Well, were the Fire Service foolish enough to ignore the voices of the people of Blaneau Gwent, then it will be the police who will be picking up a huge manpower bill, because they will need an army to get through the wall of living flesh that will defend OUR STATION and the jobs of the men who crew it.

The residents of Blaina would probably have to pay increased premiums to their insurance companies given that the nearest fire support would not be local.

Now we all know that the men of Blaina are easy going, gentle men, but they will defend their families by defending those who risk their lives for them.

Will the police use stun guns against the mothers with their children who would be protesting peacefully outside the station to prevent it being closed.  I do not think so.

If any of the scenarios above were to be shown in the National and International media, then I would not like to be one of the people responsible for the proposal or the politicians who thought closing a Fire Station was better than saving lives.

Now the Fire Service might think they have a done deal but clearly they know little about the people of Abertillery, Blaina, Nantyglo, Brynmawr and Ebbw Vale - we are the descendants of the Rebeccaites and the Chartists who have never feared to fight for the people, and this is now a fight for the people of Blaina.  These men will not let the Firefighters of Blaina down.

So what do we do now, if we only have around 8 weeks to persuade the Fire Service to reconsider their plans for Blaina?

Well the first thing you should do is write to your local Member of Parliament either by email or snail mail and tell them, do not ask them, tell them, that you expect them to publicly support the fight to save Blaina Fire Station.

Also send similar correspondence to your Welsh Assembly Member and tell them the same, and again be quite  blunt.  They either support Blaina or they lose your support and vote.

You should find that your local Councillors, who are much closer to the people, will be supporting Blaina, but it is wise to contact them also and suggest they also speak out publicly in defence of Blaina.  After all, if Blaina falls then their town could be next.

Fight for Blaina and Blaina will fight for you is the message.

Do NOT let any politician tell you that they cannot publicly support Blaina because of a "conflict of interest" with regards to areas within the Fire Service.  They support Blaina or they will be shamed publicly.
 
Finally a message to the Fire Service from me - Paul Morris.

Early one morning in 96, whilst on my way to work I drove past Blaina Fire station and turned on to the A476 and saw the smoke from the fire at Zephaniah Way, where two of Blaina's sons had either just died or had minutes to live, whilst trying to save the life of a young child who also died.

I have never forgotten that day or the men who gave their lives for their community but you rats at the top of the Fire Service have.  One day I will write about the memorial service to those two heroes I attended and how sickened I was by the crocodile tears of some of you.

Now you come to Blaina and rip open a wound that has never really healed.

You have brought back horrible frightening memories to the widows and families of those firefighters and have reopened other wounds that I will not mention because of a desire to put the past in the past.

You revolt and sicken me and shame the brave firefighters you lead, who thank God are nothing like you.

You want a fight boys, then you will have one because we are Valley Boys and we are the last people in the world you want to upset.

Bring it on.