Ballyshannon-Bundoran fire stations saga at pivotal point warns council

The provision of two fire stations in Ballyshannon and Bundoran were now at a pivotal point in their 41-year history and unless a decision one way or another was made shortly, a new national review of services might put the provision of any station there in doubt.

That was the blunt message from Donegal County Council's director of service for economic development, emergency services and information systems, Garry Martin when he spoke on the crisis in the provision of fire stations in south Donegal at Monday's council meeting in Lifford.

It all stemmed from a motion from  Cllr Barry Sweeny who called on the chief executive, John McLaughlin, to submit plans, specifications and cost estimates to the council in relation to the three outstanding stations in Ballyshannon, Bundoran and Glencolmcile.

He asked for the construction of two new fire stations to replace both existing stations in Ballyshannon and Bundoran as agreed at full council in June 2018 and an upgrading of the plans and funding for Glencolmcille fire station to finally close out the Donegal Fire Service Capital Building Programme.

He also requested that all these be then formally submitted to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for funding. 

Cllr Sweeny (above) said communities were deeply concerned about the potential closure of a fire station in this county and the knock-on consequences of this downgrading of service brought with it the fear of increased risk to property and life.

"We need to ensure the best possible service for our citizens by retaining and improving our fire service and future-proofing the service by giving it the best possible chance to recruit and retain vital fire fighting personnel."

He pointed out that the Donegal Fire Service Capital Building Programme which started over 20 years ago had seen 12 of the 15 stations replaced at a cost of €11 million.

"But the debate on a solution for south Donegal has rumbled on for a lot more than those 20 years and we are all aware that a resolution was passed at that special meeting in June 2018 to proceed with a two-station solution for Ballyshannon and Bundoran.

Move Things Forward

"I want to move things forward and formally request funding for the two stations as well as a suitable solution for Glencolmcille. I believe this is a very realistic request and not asking too much or something that is impossible," he said.

Cllr Sweeny said he wanted to see an end to the debate, frustration and stress not to mention the energy, time and money spent on what was a relatively simple solution.

"We need to end the fight and patch the wounds that have occurred over the years and build our fire service with confidence and ambition going into the future. The only solution is to replace both stations and not close a Donegal station. We will be thanked for this in the future." 

He added he believed the procedure that needed to be adopted was relatively straightforward as it had already been done in the case of the 12 other stations.

"It must include outline specifications, plans, cost estimates, identification of a suitable location and sites at optimum locations which may well be on council owned lands and therefore reduce the cost."

He said he now wanted a simple plan to be presented to the council in a timely fashion so councillors could review the proposal and agree to forward it to Minister Darragh O'Brien and his Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

He said the response he received from the council's director of service for economic development, emergency services and information systems, Garry Martin was not what he was hoping for as it showed a huge number of reasons not to go ahead with two stations and would have prefered to see reasoning as to why they should build the two.

Cllr Sweeny said he knew the department's inclination was a one-station solution was adequate to run the fire service in south Donegal but he pointed out this was at odds with the opinion of the local community and fire staff in that area who had been running a service there for a combined 250 years.

"I'm not happy with the response that it seems to be impossible to put together a business case. I'm talking about a simple proposal. It says it would cost €450,000 to put forward a proposal for the two stations. I can't get my head around that. The work has been done before. I don't see how it can cost that amount of money or for the members to identify the source of this money. It can't be put back on us like that," he added.

Council colleague Cllr Michael McMahon (above) said this case had been argued for the past 35-40 years. The people of the area and the firemen supported the proposal but added if there were not two stations it could affect economic development in the area.

Tragedies

"We have had our tragedies in this county in Creeslough and Bundoran and we  don't want anything like that to ever happen again and we need our fire stations."

He said he too found it hard to understand why they could not bring a simple proposal to the department at less than €450,000.

"That seems outrageous to me. There have been so many reports over the years about Bundoran and Ballyshannon that there has to report that can be delivered to the minister's desk. We have met department officials but they live in Dublin. They don't know anything about rural Ireland or Donegal nor do they care. The departments are failing the people. We will be failing the people of Bundoran, Ballyshannon, Belleek, Pettigo, Ballintra, Rossnowlagh, Cashelard, Inver, Glenade, Kinlough and Tullaghan if we don't get our two fire stations."

He added this was an example of local democracy is denied.

"We have a new hospital in Ballyshannon with 81 rooms, we have extended buildings in Bundoran with high-rise hotels so we need our services so we are not going to give up on this, even if it takes legal action," he added.

Council director Mr Martin (above) said this issue went back to 1982 when it emerged there was a requirement for a replacement of the fire service infrastructure in south Donegal and the view at that time was one station be sufficient.

"Over the years there have been numerous attempts made to put the infrastructure in place but there has been a consistent position taken by the key parties ove5 the 41 years. The professional view of the key fire officers over that time has been single location would provide the services as there is only 6.3km between the two stations"

He added that view informed the central government and the national directorate long before any reports.

"That's the hill the members have been trying to push the stone up over the last 41 years but unfortunately we have never been able to develop an evidence-based plan that supports the argument for two locations being necessary."

He pointed out the chief executive, and the chief fire officer and he had made arguments to the national directorate last year but had been told one station was the only proposal they could accept.

Mr Martin did say the council was not adverse or had any ideological block to building two stations if the finance was provided for it.

"But for 41 years that argument has been made but not won."

Challenge

He warned councillors had to be aware that there was a challenge now facing them in the form of a review now taking place nationally in relation to the form and type of the retained fire service for future years.

"There is a very real risk we will be asked to consolidate further as part of that and that may place a further challenge in our way in achieving our objective of a station for south Donegal.

"Our job every day of the week is to ensure that there is an appropriate service there and we're very committed to doing that. The absence of an investment decision makes it very difficult for us to continue to do that going into the future so I think there needs to be substantial consideration given to that particular issue."

Mr Martin warned that carrying out what the motion called for would drive the indicated cost of actually doing this.

"The cost of construction has gone through the roof over the past number of years and generally speaking design costs associated will be a percentage of the overall costs of construction. The proposal is to design and develop buildings on two separate locations yet to be identified so there are costs associated with all of that including design costs, site-specific design costs and using regular percentage rates that you would expect from the market at the minute - between 6% and 10% - that's the basis on which these figures are being put forward given that we would estimate at current build costs and taking into account the cost of site acquisition, you could be looking at €4m to €4.5 million in total for the overall build.

"That is why the proposition brought forward today reflects in the context of the response to the motion that the cost associated with doing this piece of work would be in the region of €450,000 and based on what has happened over the past 41 years, there's not a huge amount of evidence to suggest that we will get a different response from the national directorate. That's the blunt answer, not the answer you want but those are the facts as they are. That's the challenge we face so I would certainly urge caution in spending money without there being a huge prospect of a positive response."

He added there had been many workshops on the issue over the years and if believed there was a recommendation he could bring to bear he would but at the moment the national directorate was of the view there that technically there is no argument to be made.

"Whether there is an argument politically to be made that's not part of my role, that's a different role that has to be played out but if it did come to that and funding was provided we certainly would not be found wanting in delivering on the two station solution," he added.

Costs

Cllr Sweeny argued the information gathered over the years could be used to submit a proposal to the department without it costing €450,000 but Mr Martin pointed out many of the costs and standards would now be out of date and not applicable. He also said if they proceeded the councillors in Donegal MD would have to decide where to find the money and what services would they cut to achieve this.

The meeting agreed that the director would meet again with the councillors in the Donegal Municipal Division to try to advance the proposal using internal council resources with both councillors Sweeny and McMahon adamant that there needed to be a solution.

Mr Martin said while he was happy to explore any option he warned again that the likelihood of getting one station never mind two was becoming less as each year went on.

"We don't want a situation where we find we have a really bad outcome. I would appeal to the chamber, let's not let the perfect get in the way of the good here. We are at a pivotal point and I am really concerned that if we don't conclude this one way or the other in the next short while, none of us will have an outcome that will serve the people of the south of the county," he added.