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Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority Chairman, Bryan Cope said: "Kent Fire and Rescue Service works around the clock, 365 days a year dealing with fires, road traffic collisions and other emergencies, such as floods, explosions and chemical incidents.
"It offers a first class service to the residents of Kent and Medway but to remain an excellent service, we must make sure we look at the changes expected in the county and plan for emerging risks. We want to ensure everyone has the chance to be involved in shaping fire and rescue provision for the coming years, so I would urge you to get involved."
Making Kent Safer - the KFRS plan for 2010/13 - is published this week for consultation. It considers the changing risks to local people that will affect the fire and rescue service over the coming years. These include:
- Changes in local communities that pose additional fire risks such as increasing numbers of vulnerable people living alone and more people in shared rented housing.
- Traffic and collisions: KFRS attends around 1,200 road traffic collisions and rescues every year and traffic is predicted to increase over the next few years. We are working with partners to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the roads.
- Development: 112,800 new homes are planned to be built by 2026, so we must look ahead now to how we will service those centres of population. New building materials and construction are also changing risks both for buildings and fire-fighters.
- Environment: The Environment Agency is forecasting higher flood risks for some parts of the area due to extreme weather and we need to be ready to respond. We are also doing our bit for the environment by reducing carbon emissions through fuel and energy savings.
- Economy: We want to improve our advice for small businesses to support the local economy, and also pursue efficiency savings to keep our part of the council tax down.
Residents are being encouraged to share their thoughts through a questionnaire, available in local libraries, online or by calling 01622 692121. As an added incentive, one lucky resident could win £100 in shopping vouchers.
You will be able to view the plan and give your comments until 11 January 2010, online at www.kent.fire-uk.org. If you would like to return the questionnaire by post, or if you would like a printed version of the plan, please call us on 01622 692121 or email us at [email protected]
