As Chair of the Goole and Howdenshire Local Action Team (LAT) I was invited to spend a few of hours with Humberside Fire and Rescue as part of their peer review, looking at how they performed over the past year. It was interesting to be part of group of 15 people from different backgrounds and services giving our experiences of the service.As a local Councillor who works very closely with the Fire Service it was very easy to be complimentary to them, particularly in how they are proactive when it comes to partnership working, how very well they work in communities, and how they are perceived as positive role models.
But to inject a touch of balance I was quite comfortable in mentioning the impact of the reduction in capability of Goole Fire Station from two full time fire crews, down to one full time and one part time (retained) crew, and not forgetting the purchase of the massive Combined Ariel Rescue Platforms (CARPs) which have had problems with just getting them on the road, never mind them being of such a size to make travelling down narrow streets very difficult, if not impossible.
All in all a great service, some great fire officers, but problems in the strategic direction - but acknowledging much of this is the fault of Central Government.
For more information on Humberside Fire and Rescue please go to:
http://www.humbersidefire.gov.uk/
7 comments:
I would like to thank you for how much time and effort you put into the job of being Chairman of the Local Action Team. I was particularly saddened to see the ill-judged remarks made in the Goole Times last week by one of the correspondents criticising the allowance for the work. If you or anyone else spent as many hours on a paid for basis the reward would have been several times the cost of the allowance!
Some petty people simply have no concept of reality!
Having read the Courier newspaper I see Mr Whitley has continued his ignorant but vitriolic torrent of nonsense in that paper also.
He really must be a sad individual who tries to turn reality on its head! Truth it seems has no place in his bitter world.
Paul, I would like to put the following on your blog please but I don’t want you to put my name to it because I wouldn’t want to have to go through what you have.
I am writing in connection with Mr M Whitley’s vitriolic letter against East Riding of Yorkshire Councillor Paul Robinson (Goole Times 25th March), it was very one sided, and someone who actually knows that amount of work that Paul does needs to redress the balance.
I know for a fact that Mr Whitley has made a number of complaints to the Standards Board against Councillor Robinson in connection with the aftermath of the flooding in Gilberdyke, all of which resulted in Paul being completely cleared of any wrong doing, but still Mr Whitley snipes from a position of petty grievance in Gilberdyke.
Clearly Mr Whitley is not a regular reader of the Goole Times, because if he were he would recognise the considerable work that Paul does as Chairman of the Goole and Howdenshire Local Action Team that has been well documented through the pages of your newspaper over the last two years. This brings into question Mr Whitley’s assertion that the work is confined to ‘chairing a monthly meeting’. (in fact the meetings are 6 weekly), I know Councillor Robinson spends a great deal of time and effort between formal meetings working tirelessly with the Police, Fire and Health Services, and volunteer groups to improve the conditions of all the communities within the Goole and Howdenshire Area.
What is unusual is Paul’s ability to work with Councillors from all political parties to get the job done, examples include working with Goole Councillor Keith Moore and the Community Payback offenders to get a Goole road repaired, with Councillor Beryl Beck-Taylor and Goole’s young people looking at youth provision, and also working with Councillor Caroline Fox in trying to address anti-social behaviour, and the cobbles outside the church in Snaith.
A simple glance at the local press reveals his work with the teams dealing with youth and anti-social behaviour – including meeting and talking with young people in the evenings, his efforts in securing grant aid towards the Gilberdyke drainage improvements, rural road improvements, his role in moving forward the demolition of Old Goole’s Field House Farm buildings - the list goes on and on. His published blog details much of his work, as does the Google search engine.
The many hours that Cllr Paul Robinson spends in his role as Chairman of the Goole and Howdenshire Local Action Team would, if carried out on a commercial basis, attract far higher reward than the disputed allowance. Therefore even though everyone has to tighten their belts I consider the public gets excellent value for money from this particular Councillor and bitter personal attacks are totally un-deserved.
As one of the other unfortunate targets of Mr Whitleys numerous standards board complaints (I was also happily cleared of wrongdoing) I agree with anonymous that Pauls efforts on behalf of the community are of far greater value than the allowance Mr Whitley complains about.
It is quite strange to see Mr Whitley actually commit his name to pubic scrutiny since he has made repeated requests to have his identity obscured from the parish council minutes, where his monthly letters and series of complaints are documented for anyone wishing to see them.
His entire emergence into public view would appear to revolve around being discovered as having installed two pieces of gas pipe as an unauthorised culvert into one of Gilberdykes main drainage channels prior to the flooding of 2007.
It would appear that he is now conducting a vendetta against Paul as one of the members of the community who are working towards remedying the drainage problems.
John Jessop
Gilberdyke
Ive read a few pieces in different places by this chap in different papers on different subjects, wonder what the motive is. Could be political, but on windfarms I agree. why don't they put them along the riverbank from Brough to Howdendyke
At Gilberdyke parish a story to tell,
A flood that came to create some hell,
a report was made to answer the flood,
but the council spoiled it so that was a dud,
you should pay that’s the law that be
but in this case its for me
Yes yes, no no , the augment went
3 years still and no money spent
we all await the next rain due
we wonder what there is to do
We paid our rates so that should do
but the council just hasn’t a clue
They give to pensions of those they knew
increase the rates they certainly do
Now we have a plan to see
New pipes, a flap value all to glee
The moral of this story be
The fact we get nothing for free
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