Issue - meetings

John Sweeney from Scottish Fire and Rescue gave an update to the Forum on the Spring Season Action Plan.  He advised that this is a busy time of the year and they deal with a number of grass fires over the Easter holidays.  He confirmed they would be engaging with the community between 2^nd March to 27^th April to try and reduce the number of fires and hand out leaflets with information that will also help reduce the risk.

He updated the Forum on the Cut-it-Out event which is taking place in Oban High School in November for S6 students which is designed to introduce them to the dangers and consequences of bad driving.  They advised the programme is aimed at young drivers and similar aged young people who may be passengers within a vehicle to try and reduce the numbers of young people killed, injured or involved in road traffic crashes within the area.  They advised that it has been identified that the 17-25 year old age group accounts for around 21% of all drivers killed.  He advised that they have received good feedback from the school and pupils.

The Chair asked if the Scottish Fire and Rescue Action Plan is available on the website.  John Sweeney confirmed it was and agreed to pass this information to the Senior Area Committee Assistant who would then distribute this information to the Community Planning Group distribution list.  The Chair also asked where he could find call out statistics and John Sweeney advised that he would be able to get this information from their Media Officer.

Martin Hill updated the Forum on the recent Bonfire Strategy which was a success.  He also updated the Forum on the Cut it Out Campaign which was delivered to S6 pupils in Oban High School to teach them about safe driving in Argyll and Bute.

He advised that the festive campaign is underway and there will be an article in the Oban Times to send out safe messages relating to alcohol, cooking and electrical safety.

There was an update from Scottish Fire and Rescue which confirmed they have now engaged in their Summer Strategy over the holiday period and have designed a leaflet covering fire safety advice in relation to camping, caravanning and gas safety in the one publication and they issued 2500 of these leaflets to nearby campsites.  It was advised that they had a joint article in the Oban Times with Police Scotland colleagues to promote the strategy and gave out 1000 of these leaflets to festival goers attending the Tiree Music Festival.

It was advised that Scottish Fire and Rescue are also working with Road Safety Scotland and Police Scotland to issue advice to members of the community and tourists to promote road safety and thanked June Graham, the Council’s Road Safety Officer who was extremely helpful in assisting with the vast amounts of road safety literature and materials which were distributed during the strategy.

They updated the Forum on the Cut-it-Out event which is taking place in Oban High School in September for S6 students which is designed to introduce them to the dangers and consequences of bad driving.  They advised the programme is aimed at young drivers and similar aged young people who may be passengers within a vehicle to try and reduce the numbers of young people killed, injured or involved in road traffic crashes within the area.  They advised that it has been identified that the 17-25 year old age group accounts for around 21% of all drivers killed.

Inspector McLeish reported that Martin Hill will be leaving Oban Fire Station at the end of September to take up a new position at Clydebank Head Quarters and a replacement is yet to be identified but advised that Martin would like to record his thanks to all multi-agency partners for all their help and assistance in the two and a half years he has been at Oban Fire Station.

The Chair thanked Martin on behalf of the Forum for all his support and wished him well for his new position.

Alex Purdie introduced himself to the Forum and advised he had taken up a new role as Commander in February of this year.  He advised that Community Action Teams are engaging with home fire safety visits.

He raised a local issue with the group in regards to a home fire safety visit he undertook in the Dunoon area where adapters from 50’s/60’s are still being used which do not meet the current regulations.  He advised that he is currently liaising with Building Standards and the Housing Improvement Officer who have been really helpful and are looking into carrying out mains installation checks which is best practice for all organisations in the community.

He advised the Forum that Eddie Renfrew is retiring on Friday 29^th August and that there will be a new replacement in post soon.

Alex Purdie, on behalf of Scottish Fire and Rescue thanked Paul for his kind words. He advised that he has lived in a variety of places throughout Scotland and he has never failed to be astonished by members of the public and the assistance they provide to emergency services in rural areas.

Alex Purdie advised that since the last meeting the Bikers Breakfast had taken place in Inveraray. He advised that the day had been a great success and around 220-225 bikers in attendance. He advised that the bikes had created a good tourist display for other visitors. He reported that purpose of the day was to teach bikers what to do in accidents and this included how to safety remove a helmet after an accident. Alex Purdie advised that the Community Action Team had been busy carrying out Home Safety Visits including visits to Sheltered Housing to ensure the most vulnerable people are not at risk.

Alex Purdie advised that in the last quarter there had been two accidental dwelling fires, one of which had been in sheltered housing.

He advised that staff had been utilised at the Commonwealth Games, which had provided an excellent opportunity for staff to gain experience working at such a large scale event.

Alex Purdie advised that Mr Renfrew would be retiring at the end of the month and this would be a big loss to the area. He advised that his replacement would be announced in due course.

He advised that he is settling into his new role and he is hoping to move forward and bring new ideas to the Forum in the future.

Alex Purdie introduced himself to the forum. and outlined his role as Local Authority Liaison Officer. He highlighted a number of activities in which he had become involved, promoting home fire safety, visits which continue to be well received. Alex highlighted the recent successful RTC scenario carried out in Dunoon, and asked that forum members circulate some of the photographs - if they have the opportunity.   The Dunoon scenario was very well received as was the staged “cut out” exercise which was undertaken at Hermitage Academy.

Alex also highlighted the project created by Mitch Dow in which he and Area Governance officer have been involved in promoting a positive change in social work practice as a result of modifications to the assessment forms used.  The project has led to approx. 140 referrals, targeting the most vulnerable groups.  Finally,  Alex confirmed a number of other activities which are planned to take place the OLI and surrounding areas.  These are to include the Bikers Breakfast in Inverary, and the Home Sweet Home Plays in Cowal.   The Area Governance officer was asked whether the plays could be brought to Oban as well, and it was agreed that he and Cmdr. Purdie would liaise to see if this was possible.

Cmdr. Martin Hill noted that the spring strategy had been a very successful.  Cmdr. Hill indicated his view that that substantive, proactive engagement with the local community had reduced incidents, particularly the Muirburn initiative with only 4 low level grassfires, rather than the huge ones of last year. 

Going forward, Martin noted that the official summer start date was on 30 June, and it was hoped that the Bikers breakfast on that day would lead to a reduction in RTCs.

Alex Purdie, the new Local Authority Liaison Officer for Scottish Fire and Rescue introduced himself to the Forum and informed everyone of his role and potential contribution to the group.

He advised the group that there has been a reduction in accidental dwelling fires from 4 to 3 in the last quarter, along with a reduction in chimney fires from 4 to 2.

He informed that there has been an increase in manual fire alarms but assured the group that this might not be a bad thing since it may be due to people evacuating buildings rather than risking combating dangerous situations.

Alex updated the Forum on the Bikers Breakfast that is taking place in Inveraray in June and asked the Forum to spread the word and invite people along.

He advised that there is an actors group set up called “Home Sweet Home” that could  be deliver Community safety based plays in the area if the local community want them to come.  For the exercise to be worthwhile, at least three groups per day are necessary to provide morning, matinee and evening performances. This has a cost of approximately £600, for which funding may be available.

Alex updated the Forum on the pilot project which is currently being run with Social Work for high risk referrals.  He advised there have currently been 140 referrals that have been carried out along with home visits.