Dear Thurrock resident,

It may have been brought to your attention recently that Essex County Fire and Rescue Service are planning a series of changes to the crewing arrangements at various stations including Grays. These changes include the removal of the Specialist Rescue Tender and a reduction in workforce that will leave the fire station with insufficient numbers to crew the all the remaining appliances, thus forcing crews to move from one appliance to another rendering one unavailable.

As a Fire Fighter within Thurrock this concerns me greatly. Grays is home to over 1/3 of the county’s highest level industrial risks (COMAH sites) and within the whole of Thurrock, we have over 1/2 the county’s major risks. We also have one of the busiest road networks in the country, consisting of the A13, M25 and The Dartford Crossing, which is nearly 200,000 vehicle movements per day. There is also Lakeside, Channel Tunnel rail link, numerous industrial and commercial sites in Grays, West Thurrock, Purfleet, South Ockendon and Aveley.

There is also a concern about cutting emergency services to an area that is about to undergo the Thames Gateway regeneration, Europe’s largest regeneration plan. With this investment comes additional homes, infrastructure, traffic and potential risk for the residents. There are already plans for expansion at Lakeside- 7,000 new jobs, Tilbury Docks- 4,000 new jobs, DP world- 12,000 new jobs and a possible second river crossing in Thurrock.

I am also concerned by the lack of meaningful consultation on this issue. I believe the public of Grays and Thurrock deserve the chance to have their say on changes to their local emergency services and have so far been denied this right.
With all of the above in mind, I see Essex County Fire and Rescue Services plans to reduce the availability of fire cover in Grays as flawed and hope you support us in this campaign.

Concerned Grays Fire Fighter.