Hundreds Turn Out to Protest Over the Coastguard Cuts [Edition 3]

Summary

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HUNDREDS of campaigners marched to Brixham Coastguard Station yesterday to fight for its future. Despite the rain, some 400 people attended the rally, org anised by Brixham Town Councillor Vic Ellery who hailed the port's Coastguard staff the 'lifeblood of this town and our coastline'. "They are who we are trying to save," he told the crowd. "We needed to have a rally to allow you to have your voice and you have turned out, I knew you would." Campaigners marched from The Strand to the Coastguard Station led by Public and Commercial Services Union re presentatives car rying a hug e banner. The crowd waved and cheered the port's Coastguards who were watching the demonstration below from the window of their station at King's Quay. Town council chairman Cllr Martyn Hodge was loudly applauded when he hailed the town's maritime rescue coordination centre 'an oyster with a pearl of local knowledge that cannot be replicated or replaced'. Addressing the demonstrators, he highlighted the amount of maritime traffic in South Devon waters and stressed the importance of the local knowledge possessed by Brixham Coastguards. Cllr Hodge said: "Our Brixham Coastguard is close to the Western Approaches, close to Lyme Bay and the port of Plymouth with its major naval base and it is also on the English Channel and the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean. " T h i s m e a n s a h u g e vo l u m e o f commercial, military and leisure maritime traffic passes close by our coastline.

"When we send our lifeboat crew out in stormy seas to a sinking vessel we want to be sure it has the best possible guidance from those with the best possible knowledge of the conditions, of the area, of the people who are risking their lives and the best communication links with the stricken vessel. "When the Coastguards were first introduced they patrolled the cliffs looking for smugglers and ships in peril. "Well now we have satellites, radar and radio so that patrolling is not required but there are still ships in peril and smugglers and along with these are the thousands of people we invite to our coasts to live and to holiday who rely on the Coastguards being there." Campaigners gave Cllr Hodge another thunderous round of applause when he demanded the Maritime and Coastguard Agency protect frontline services by c u t t i n g ' a n a l r e a d y t o p h e av y administration first'.

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Hundreds Turn Out to Protest Over the Coastguard Cuts [Edition 3]

He slated the MCA's online consultation, which has extended by six weeks it was announced yesterday, as failing to allow local people to express their 'true opinions'. H...

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