Leadhills Community Fire Station

At its meeting on Thursday, 23 November 2023, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Board approved the recommendation to cease operations at Leadhills Community Fire Station (LCFS) in South Lanarkshire. The decision follows a public consultation around the future of LCFS.  

This decision was based on careful consideration of a range of factors: community safety, risk assessment, incident data, recruitment challenges, asset availability and best value. 

A comprehensive public and stakeholder consultation exercise took place around two Options: 

1. Reinstatement of operations at LCFS
2. Closure of LCFS

After full consideration of the findings from the consultation exercise, including contributions from local residents, SFRS Board approved Option 2. 

A three-stage engagement process was undertaken: 

1. Pre-consultation: working with stakeholders and the local community to identify viable and feasible options to formally consult on
2. Formal consultation on two Options
3. Post consultation: collating and analysing the feedback collected to enable an informed decision by SFRS Board.

• A leaflet drop to domestic dwellings and businesses in the villages of Leadhills and Wanlockhead informed the public of the drop-in session to be held at Leadhills Community Hall.
• Posters were also displayed in both villages.
• Direct engagement with stakeholders, partner agencies and third sector partners.
• Drop-in session held on 4 July 2023. This was attended by twelve people who gave their views on the proposals around the future of LCFS.

Importantly, the pre-consultation stage asked stakeholders – including local residents – if they had any additional suggestions or proposals around the future of LCFS. No feasible suggestions were received. 

The formal consultation stage commenced on 10 July and ran to 18 August 2023. The consultation sought the views from three key stakeholder groups: 

• Members of the public within the local community
• External stakeholders and partner agencies 
• SFRS staff.

A public meeting held in Leadhills on 8 August 2023 was attended by eleven people. The presentation, delivered by the Local Senior Officer for Lanarkshire, was followed by a question-and-answer session with attendees. 

An online survey (10 July - 18 August 2023) received twenty-seven responses. 

We analysed and considered responses from the two public sessions, the online survey, SFRS staff, and other stakeholders.  

We updated South Lanarkshire Community Planning Partnership (CPP) on the consultation process and invited contributions. The same process was followed at the Safer South Lanarkshire Board. This enabled elected members to review the proposals and provide feedback.

We discussed the challenges around LCFS with the two volunteer crew members at LCFS, as well as with crews at nearby stations in Abington and Sanquhar. Discussions were also held with representative bodies.

Concerns were raised regarding the safety of residents in the event of a fire should the station close and the potential impact of any delay mobilising from neighbouring stations. There were concerns regarding the impact in winter months when the village can be inaccessible due to adverse weather. 

However, the engagement process highlighted a lack of awareness as to the limited role that could be fulfilled even with a fully crewed volunteer station. Another consideration of stakeholders was the future use of the building. 

South Lanarkshire Council gave a detailed response stating that: “The Council has no concerns regarding the volume of fire incident trends presented in the consultation and is confident that SFRS can respond quickly and effectively to reported incidents in Leadhills and Wanlockhead irrespective of the decision to close or reinstate Leadhills Community Fire Station.” 

Community safety within the area remains a priority. As such, SFRS is offering Home Fire Safety Visits to all residents where bespoke home safety advice can be given by SFRS staff.