Andrew Liddle
The fire brigade has confirmed it will shut its control rooms in Aberdeen and Inverness this year – leaving emergency call staff to work out of portable buildings for as long as four months.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has announced it will press ahead with controversial closures in the Granite City and Highland capital, despite the replacement Dundee facility not being available until March.
Earlier this month, the Press and Journal revealed staff would be working out of portable buildings until the new facility was ready.
But this is the first time officials have confirmed the Aberdeen facility will shut on November 8 – almost four months before the Dundee one will open – while Inverness will be mothballed on December 6.
A spokeswoman for the fire service insisted the ability to answer 999 calls would not be affected by the changes.
Local politicians and residents have raised a string of concerns about the closures, including a loss of local knowledge.
Scottish Labour north-east MSP Lewis Macdonald said: “Given that mistakes in the police control room closure plans may already have cost lives, it seems bizarre that the SFRS are going ahead with their own closures before the new facility is even up and running.”
Peter Chapman, Scottish Conservative MSP for the north-east, added: “People will rightly be wondering why these hard working control room staff will be leaving a modern, state-of-the-art facility in Aberdeen to work from portable cabins for four months.”
During a visit to Aberdeen yesterday, the SFRS Chief Officer Alasdair Hay insisted the complaints were unjustified.
“This major investment will without doubt further enhance our protection across the north of Scotland,” he said.
“We look forward to combining our capabilities from across Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness into this fantastic facility in Dundee.
“It can deploy our specialist resources not only from across the north – but from across the whole of Scotland – at times of significant emergency.”
The fire service said staff who have chosen to stay on in the Granite City and Highland Capital will be offered new roles in the community.
The plan to shut the facilities was announced in 2014 as part of a major shake-up following the creation of the national fire service.
