Star Comment: Hopes fired after u-turn
Developments in Mid Wales give renewed hope for campaigners in Shropshire fighting to ward off the prospect of fire station closures.
Two fire stations which faced the axe, at Montgomery and Knighton, are now to be kept open.
In rural areas distance equates to time, and the importance of having on-the-doorstep emergency services is especially acute, unless people in rural areas are to be condemned as second class citizens whose lives and safety really do not count as much as that of those in the big towns and cities.
The good news for Mid Wales is also good news for Shropshire, particularly those Salopians living close to that border town of Knighton.
Nevertheless, a dark cloud remains over several small Shropshire fire stations.
It is claimed that the impact on response times if one or more closed would be limited.
There will be plenty of arguments about that. But the central question is whether Salopians are safer with these fire stations open than with them closed.
Looking at things that way is not being emotional or sentimental, but hard headed about what the fire service is about – keeping the public as safe as possible.
