Cornwall fire and rescue critical control room to remain in county

The fire control room will remain in Cornwall, with a significant investment in new software

Cornwall's fire and rescue critical control room will not be relocating out of the county.

Cornwall Council had considered moving the hub to a shared site elsewhere in the UK, but voted unanimously on Tuesday not to do so.

The decision to remain at Tolvaddon will cost about £600,000 extra a year.

Martyn Alvey. portfolio holder for environment and climate change, said "money is important but lives are more important".

Merging with another control centre was one of the options presented to cabinet.

Mr Alvey said the decision "means that critical control will continue as is for the foreseeable, with some significant investment in software to enable it to remain current to modern standards."

The control centre will continue to operate 24 hours a day, and an arrangement with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority to provide resilience cover will continue.

Speaking of Tuesday's decision, Mr Alvey said: "There are so many unique features to Cornwall that outsourced critical control simply wouldn't provide the service that Cornwall rightly deserves.

"All of the viable options that we had on the table today would have cost more money, and actually the choice that we made was the most expensive of the three viable options.

"But we recognise that when you are talking about peoples lives, money takes second place."

The funding for the next year would come from council reserves, Mr Alvey added.

Gary Cotton, Fire Brigades Union brigade secretary for Cornwall. said: "Firefighters across Cornwall will be relieved that the council has finally recognised the value of the highly specialised skills and knowledge required, and the essential role that fire control plays in keeping the public safe."

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