No Agreement on Fire Engine for Conservatives £600,000 Fire Depot

6 Jul 2014
Fire Engines overflow the St Mark's Road yard during recent flooding in the Thames Valley
Windsor's proper St Mark's Road Fire Station, overflowing with Fire Engines during the recent floods. This facility won't be available next winter, thanks to the Conservatives.

There is as yet no guarantee that there will be a Fire Engine for the Conservatives new "so-called" fire station, according to Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue.

A Freedom of Information Request from Windsor Liberal Democrats asked to know what legally binding undertakings had been given to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead about the provision of a fire engine for the Tinker's Lane site by Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue.

The request which was sent in parallel to both the Royal Borough and Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue, drew a blanket refusal from the Royal Borough, despite its supposed committment to transparency.

However the response from Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue made it clear that among other reasons, they were unable to respond as no agreement had yet been reached about providing a fire engine for Tinker's Lane.

Despite the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue having yet to agree to provide a fire engine, the Royal Borough has pressed ahead with the construction of the Tinker's Lane building, which lacks most of the facilities required for it to operate as a proper fire station, at a cost of £600,000.

Although the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue have signed a lease with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, it is on a "Pepper Corn" rent, meaning that quite literally Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue's only liability under the deal is 1 peppercorn a year for thirty years.

100g of peppercorns are currently worth about £2.

Source:

  1. e-mail to Windsor Liberal Democrats from Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue 23/06/2014

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