New fire stations welcomed

4.16.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 6th Aug 2008

Liberal Democrats on Gloucestershire County Council fully support moves to improve fire service around Cheltenham and Gloucester.

On August 7th, the Cabinet of Gloucestershire County Council will be discussing whether or not to proceed with the construction of four new fire stations around Gloucester and Cheltenham.

The Cabinet is expected to endorse a report which calls for the construction to go ahead, and to approve the 'evaluation criteria' which will be used to decide other factors.

This recommendation comes on the back of work done by Councillor Jeremy Hilton when he was the cabinet member for fire in the last administration.

Councillor Charmian Sheppard, from Cheltenham, said: "This is great news that a decision will finally be made. New fire stations will improve response times for people living in Gloucester, Cheltenham and their surrounding areas. It will be good for community safety, and we are fully behind the administration in this process."

Councillor Jeremy Hilton added: "We're delighted to see the work we did pay off. This is a real opportunity for everyone to come together and unite behind a project that can only benefit local people. These four new fire stations will save lives and improve service - you can't get better than that."