Highlands MSPs press case for retaining region's 999 room
Highlands and Islands Labour MSPs, David Stewart and Rhoda Grant, are keeping up the pressure for the Inverness Fire Control Room to be saved from closure.
The decision has been taken to reduce the number of fire control rooms in Scotland from eight to three. The Board of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has already agreed that the control room in Johnstone will remain with two others from a list of Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dundee.
The Board is to meet on January 30 when a decision on the control rooms will be made.
Following on from their meeting earlier this month with the Chief Officer of the SFRS, Alasdair Hay, the Labour MSPs have tabled a further Parliamentary Question.
They have also requested a meeting with the Scottish Government’s Community Safety Minister, Rosanna Cunningham, to try to safeguard the future of the Inverness control room.
The two Labour MSPs have also written to each of the 12 members of the SFRS board pressing for the case to retain the facility in the Highland capital.
Mr Stewart said: "Concerns continue to be raised from right across the region that the Inverness control must stay open. Island and mainland communities are fearful that lives could be lost if the Inverness control closes.
"The knowledge and expertise that the Inverness based staff have of the region is extensive and I really hope the board takes the decision to save the Inverness control."
Mrs Grant said: "We have been told by Scottish Ministers that the decision on the number and location of control rooms is a matter for the SFRS.
"We believe, however, Ministers have a responsibility to ensure that the whole of Scotland is adequately covered and the unique geography of the Highlands and the 64 island areas covered by the Inverness control should not be put in jeopardy."
