Ballina Electorate Media Releases
Call For Commonsense On Emergency Responses ( 11/01/2010)
Ballina MP, Don Page, says it is ridiculous that the Suffolk Park Rural Fire Service is not the first response unit for fires that occur in Suffolk Park.
“Currently the Byron Bay Fire Brigade would handle fires in Suffolk Park and if they were already deployed, Bangalow Fire Brigade would be contacted. Suffolk Park Rural Fire Service would be next in line.
“This is a classic case where bureaucracy has overridden common sense,” he said.
“Surely the principle should be that the closest accredited organisation should be given the responsibility for first response,” he said.
“This allows the emergency to be dealt with as quickly as possible by the closest accredited group,” Mr Page said.
“If you don’t operate on this principle, delays can occur and lives and property can be lost,” he said.
Mr Page said he had written to the Minister for Emergency Services asking for him to intervene so that commonsense prevails.
“I took up a similar issue with the State Government in 2004 and I was under the impression that those anomalies had been sorted out. Clearly they haven’t,” Mr Page said.
