FIREFIGHTERS in Wilton are urging residents to make their voices heard as the fight to save the town’s fire station intensifies.
An online public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 21 from 12pm to 1pm, giving people the chance to speak out against proposed closures that could see Wilton lose its station.
The call comes amid a growing, community-led campaign to protect the service – spearheaded by Wilton resident Alice Elliot, who launched a coordinated effort to oppose the plans: Save our Fire Stations.
Last Friday, Alice hosted a meeting at Castle Meadow Pavilion to discuss what the proposal actually means in terms of safety and response, as well as helping guide people through the consultation questions.
Wilton is one of eight stations across the region under threat as Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority looks to make savings.
In a post shared online, Wilton Fire Station said: “DWFRS will be holding online public meetings about the station closure consultation & we welcome everyone to participate in the online meeting & to take part in the consultation.
“For details of how you can join this meeting & take part in the consultation visit www.dwfire.org.uk/proposed-station-closures/ & click on the station name to find the relevant meeting link.”
The fire authority says the proposals are driven by funding pressures, with government support expected to fall significantly over the coming years.
Figures presented at recent meetings show funding dropping from £12.758 million to £10.268 million by 2028-29 – a reduction of nearly 20%.
Closing Wilton Fire Station would save an estimated £233,764 annually, according to the fire authority.
However, campaigners argue the potential loss of emergency cover is too high a price to pay.
A series of public meetings has already been held across the area, with more planned at Charmouth and Maiden Newton after Easter.
Feedback from the consultation, which runs until May 15, will be independently analysed before a final decision is made in June.
With time running out, firefighters and campaigners are urging as many people as possible to take part.
For many in Wilton, the message is clear: this is a crucial moment to stand up for a vital local service before it’s too late.
I understand there are reasons for reviews into costings, however, what cost for human life, the entire reason for having such a thing as a fire station crewed by extremely highly trained firefighters is to provide an emergency cover for so very many eventualities most important of all is for the potential to save life\lives, what price saving another persons life! Will this mean there will be a drastic reduction in Council Taxes?
Fire stations were created and positioned as such to cover specific fire cover grounds, to remove any parts of the fire brigades original covering area surely destroys the ability to provide the initial cover it was designed for, but to be sent to other areas to provide cover for them, and so on, remove the critical links to that cover can only cause extremely increased response times to any incident, or critical cover to other areas, these stations were created to do a job, take them away, they no longer can! For every person living in those areas, or travelling through those areas have to accept savings required for DWF, I trust those wishing to close these critical stations will sleep soundly and not concern themselves to the potential outcomes for those innocent residents!
They are so needed for tve rural communities nearby especially when otver stations already callef out
Please don’t close our Fire station ,and endanger lives.
Fires spread so quickly so being on the scene quickly is essential.