Consultation on future of Mayfield Fire Station attracts 300 responses

The quietest fire station in East Sussex could face closure - with the county's Fire Authority weighing up options for the future of their Mayfield site.

It's an on-call station - meaning it's not staffed at all times and only when emergency call outs are needed.

But during 2023, a crew from Mayfield was only able to deploy 6% of the time, well below the target of 50%, due to a lack of crew members despite previous attempts to recruit more.

The county's Fire Authority's holding a public consultation at the moment, running until September 27th.

So far, it's attracted nearly 300 responses.

Four options are on the table, three of which involve closing the station and selling off the building:

1 – Maintain Mayfield as a single appliance On-Call fire station and uplift the availability to the Service’s minimum standard of 50% from the current 6% availability.

2 – Closure and sale of the fire station, keep the fire appliance and reinvest the revenue staff costs. This would enable the Service to reduce risk more effectively through an improved response capability.

3 – Closure and sale of the fire station and appliance, and reinvest staff costs. This would enable a redistribution of staffing resource to reduce risk more effectively through an improved response capability.

4 – Closure and sale of the fire station and appliance, and removal of the On-Call section as an additional saving to meet budget shortfall if required.

It's believed shutting the site could save East Sussex Fire and Rescue up £2.5 million, which would be reinvested into staff resources elsewhere in the service.

We can take part in the public consultation through the East Sussex Fire website |newtab), with two open sessions being held for local people to get involved in person - they're taking place on the following dates:

• Wednesday 28th August - Scout Headquarters, Tunbridge Wells Road, Mayfield TN20 6NT - 6.00pm and 7.00pm

• Saturday 7th September - Scout Headquarters, Tunbridge Wells Road, Mayfield TN20 6NT - 2.00pm and 3.00pm

A final decision on the station's future is due to be made in December 2024.

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