Campaign aims to save coastguard

23 July 2011 Last updated at 10:26 GMT A campaign was launched at a public meeting on Friday A campaign has been launched to try to prevent the closure of Swansea coastguard station.

A public meeting was held in Swansea on Friday, following the announcement that the station is to close.

It was decided that there will be a public campaign, with rallies and a petition, to save the station.

Swansea is one of eight stations set to close by 2015, and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency says the new set-up will be more effective.

South Wales West Assembly Member Suzy Davies, who was at the meeting in Mumbles, said it was packed, and there were questions to be raised about the consultation which had led to the decision to close the station, which has 28 staff.

Mrs Davies told BBC Radio Cymru that the experience of Swansea coastguards in dealing with emergencies in the Bristol Channel was not taken into consideration.

Continue reading the main story

It is not the DVLA's policy to permit political campaigning which is against government policy on government premises”

End Quote DVLA spokesman 'Shock' On Friday, the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said it was shocked that staff at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Swansea were banned from circulating a petition to save the station.

PCS had asked its members at the DVLA's Morriston and Llansamlet offices to gather signatures in support of efforts to defend the coastguard station at Mumbles.

The union's industrial officer Mike Hallinan said it was "completely over-the-top... to try and stop staff from supporting an issue that everyone in the community of Swansea is concerned about."

He appealed to DVLA management to "see sense and avoid alienating their employees by imposing unwarranted restrictions on their freedom of speech".

A DVLA spokesperson said the agency had declined the request because "it is not the DVLA's policy to permit political campaigning which is against government policy on government premises".

Swansea coastguard station is the busiest in Wales, dealing with alerts in the Bristol Channel

Stations at Milford Haven and Holyhead, which had both been earmarked for closure, are among eight to stay open.

Swansea coastguard dealt with 2,074 alerts in 2010, while Milford Haven, which watches over the UK's third largest port, and the coastline from Carmarthen to Barmouth, handled 1,006.

A consultation on the proposals closes on 6 October.

The consultation document by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said a "new concept of operations" would see nine 24-hour bases around the UK, co-ordinated from Southampton.

It said: "Within this single national network, coastguard officers will be able to deal more effectively with the seasonal and diurnal peaks and troughs of activity.

"Similarly, in the event of a major emergency, it will be possible rapidly to direct a greater number of officers to the task to ensure a timely, capable and appropriate UK response."

View the original article here

Two coastguard stations reprieved

14 July 2011 Last updated at 15:07 GMT Campaigners received mixed news in Wales

Two Welsh coastguard centres which were threatened with closure have won a reprieve.

Milford Haven and Holyhead stations will stay open but Swansea, which was to be downgraded under the plans, is now to close by 2015.

Eleven centres across the UK will now remain open, all operating around the UK.

The Welsh Government said UK ministers would have to "account for any consequences" for sea safety.

Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said the UK government should "U-turn" on its Swansea decision as it had done on the one for Holyhead and Milford Haven.

Campaigns to save Milford Haven and Holyhead stations saw a 20,000 name petition go to Downing Street.

The two reprieved stations were to shut, with Swansea reduced to operating only during daylight hours.

But the strong local protests, including lobbying the chief executive of the coastguard service when he visited Milford Haven in February, sparked the policy change.

Campaigners argued that as well as watching over the UK's third largest port, the Milford Haven centre also watched over the coastline from Carmarthen to Barmouth, an area which is typically very busy with tourists and leisure craft.

Swansea, which has 28 personnel, is now one of eight coastguard stations which will undergo phased closures between 2012 and 2015.

The details were revealed in a Commons statement by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, who said that Holyhead was being favoured instead of the MCA base at Liverpool following representations over Welsh language concerns.

He said Swansea was being closed instead of Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire due to the higher level of government employment in the city.

Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen West and Dinefwr Jonathan Edwards described the announcement as "bittersweet".

He said: "Milford Haven and Holyhead have fought fierce battles to be kept open and we welcome the announcement that they will remain fully operational.

'Strategically important'

Continue reading the main story

The campaign is not over, there will be a six week period of consultation, therefore we must keep the pressure up”

End Quote Albert Owen Anglesey MP "But there are now huge questions as to why exactly Swansea is to be closed? I will be asking what representations were made by ministers from the new Welsh government on this?"

Dennis O'Connor of the Save Milford Campaign which handed over a 20,000-name petition said he was "delighted".

But he described the news that Swansea would close as "devastating".

"We will do everything we possibly can as a campaign group to offer our support to Swansea and the other coast guard stations threatened in the UK," he said.

Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb said: "This is fantastic news and exactly what we have been working for.

"The minister always said this would be a genuine consultation and that he would modify the proposals if necessary. He has done just that."

Lib Dem MP for Ceredigion Mark Williams said: "This is very good news, which shows a welcome willingness to listen to the concerns that were expressed at the original proposals.

Anglesey MP Albert Owen, who campaigned to save Holyhead, said: "We put a strong case together based on irrefutable facts; local experience, knowledge and skills; a knowledge of the Welsh language and the strategic importance of Holyhead.

"However, the campaign is not over, there will be a six week period of consultation, therefore we must keep the pressure up, moving forward with our vision to provide safer coastlines for all."

A Welsh Government spokesman said: "We will be seeking urgent assurances from the UK government that they have considered all the potential risks of closing such a strategically important station.

"The UK government will need to account for any consequences this decision may have on the safety of shipping and other people using the coastline."

UK STATIONS CLOSING UK STATIONS REMAINING

Southampton/Portsmouth area (UK Maritime Operations Centre)

Dover (disaster recovery backup)

View the original article here