Lewes Green Party concerned about possible closure and sale of Mayfield fire station

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service announced last week that East Sussex Fire Authority members considered an Options Appraisal for Mayfield Community Fire Station at a meeting on June 13.

ESFRS said a majority of 15 voted to run a public consultation on four options with two members voting against and one member absent.

An ESFRS spokesperson said the options are:

“Option 1 – Maintain Mayfield as a single appliance On-Call fire station and uplift the availability to the Service’s minimum standard of 50 per cent from the current six per cent availability.

“Option 2 – Closure and sale of the fire station, keep the fire appliance and reinvest the revenue staff costs. This would enable the Service to reduce risk more effectively through an improved response capability.

“Option 3 – Closure and sale of the fire station and appliance, and reinvest staff costs. This would enable a redistribution of staffing resource to reduce risk more effectively through an improved response capability.

“Option 4 – Closure and sale of the fire station and appliance, and removal of the On-Call section as an additional saving to meet budget shortfall if required.”

The Lewes Green party expressed concern about three of the options being ‘variations on closing Mayfield fire station’. The party said senior fire service officers have suggested East Sussex should consider reducing the number of small, rural stations over the past 20 years. But the Greens said that, until now, it had been ‘a core value of the service’ that they do not close fire stations.

The Mayfield Options Report from June 13 said the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) forecast at a February 2024 meeting indicated a mid-range base budget savings requirement for 2025/26 of £2.211m (lower range £1.884m, higher range £2.536m).

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Wendy Maples, East Sussex County Council Green councillor (Lewes) and Fire Authority Member, said: “I understand the Fire Service is under tremendous financial pressure.” But she said it had been under this same pressure for 20 years and asked: “Why is Mayfield suddenly the focus for closure?”

She added: “I am troubled that there’s only the one ‘keep it open’ option. Why three versions of closure to choose from, but no creative ideas for maintaining this important, much loved fire station?”

ESCC Green councillor Anne Cross (Heathfield and Mayfield) said: “Closure of this station will undermine confidence in the Fire and Rescue Service across the rural north of the county at a time when we see unprecedented flooding and wildfires.”

She urged people to respond to the consultation and ‘make it clear’ to the Fire Authority and government ‘just how much they value our firefighters and our local stations’. She said: "We all know that our Fire Fighters are on the front line of climate change, in addition to the traditional fire and rescue service. Now is not the time for cuts.”

In response, an East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “The public consultation will open on 5th of July and will be open for 12 weeks, until the 27th of September. We welcome all contributions.”

The findings will be considered at a Fire Authority meeting on December 5.