Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell has criticised the Government for failing to learn the lessons of the summer’s floods. He was in Gloucestershire visiting a fire brigade control room that is facing closure. As the BBC reports:
He said: “The government is compromising safety and could be putting lives at risk by introducing regional fire and rescue control centres.
“Closing down locally based centres will severely undermine a community’s ability to cope with emergency situations such as flooding, while regional centres will lack crucial local knowledge.”
He added: “It is high time that the government realises that a one-size-fits-all approach to fire and rescue centres will not only put public safety at risk but will also stop close co-operation between local fire, ambulance and police services purely because of a Westminster diktat.”
In relation to construction on flood plains, Sir Menzies said ministers should put people’s minds “at rest by giving responsibility for flood defences to one agency who will ensure defences are adequate before any building takes place”.
He added: “Gordon Brown promised a full review on the floods so that lessons could be learnt, but the government appears to being going full speed ahead on moves which may lead to increased risk of devastation when flooding occurs in the future.”
