Coastguard changes - decision made

[NormanS]

To be honest I am not sure how the Firth of Clyde will be covered now. Strathclyde has one of the longest coasts in the UK and is a large region which includes Oban.

The current Clyde Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre area of responsibility: Mull of Galloway to Ardmurchan Point including the Islands of Jura, Gigha, Islay, Arran, Colonsay, Coll, Tiree, Mull, Bute, and Cumbrae.

So it looks like (from the document) that "Strathclyde" will be one of the new "additional" operational hubs. I would like to hope that this is based in the Firth of Clyde area (lots of places locationally superior to Greenock) and not doubled up with Oban operational hub. In fact it could be a good idea to bring jobs to Cumbrae, Arran or Bute islands. The outer islands are too near the Oban hub.

channel yacht would you have any idea where the Strathclyde operational hub is planned, perhaps just left at Greenock?

What Oban hub do you mean? Oban MRSC closed down years ago. Maybe you are referring to the fact that a Sector Manager is based in Oban?

 

[Deleted member 36384]

What Oban hub do you mean? Oban MRSC closed down years ago. Maybe you are referring to the fact that a Sector Manager is based in Oban?

I am referring to the operational hub at Oban / Fort William mentioned in the document not the MRSC that closed down. You quote it in a previous post on this thread.

 

[NormanS]

I am referring to the operational hub at Oban / Fort William mentioned in the document not the MRSC that closed down. You quote it in a previous post on this thread.

Yes, OK, and I still don't know what is meant.

 

[Cantata]

Yes, OK, and I still don't know what is meant.

If you read the documents you will see that 'operational hubs' will be sites for a new set of local CG management who will be involved in training and managing the local volunteer rescue teams.

 

[NormanS]

If you read the documents you will see that 'operational hubs' will be sites for a new set of local CG management who will be involved in training and managing the local volunteer rescue teams.

At the present moment there are Sector Managers based at both Oban and at FortWilliam. They each manage several local volunteer rescue teams.

The document talks about "new hubs", and gives a list of locations, including one "Oban / FortWilliam". Presumably this means that one of these existing sites will no longer exist. So is this just a sneaky way of saying that one of these existing management locations is to close?

 

[chanelyacht]

OK - most sector bases are actually one or occasionally two rooms attached to a CRE - that is, a local team's base. All a sector manager really needs, under the current system, is a desk and a filing cabinet.

The new system will see the sector managers grouped together in local "hubs" - probably replacing some outdated team accommodation too. Quite a few of the teams are being merged into "superteams" - which is sensible, given that a team has 12 or so members, needs about 8 to carry out a decent search or rope rescue, and many struggle for cover during the day. Current team locations are pretty much based on where lookouts used to be, so we have some that hardly ever see a job, whilst others are rushed off their feet.

(If you want an idea of what a team does, this is a really good insight - http://swanagecoastguard.blogspot.com/).

So a few of the old sector offices may close, which won't have any impact on SAR but will help reduce the costs of the estate.

We don't know definate locations for a lot of the hubs yet, although a few will be using closed MRCCs.

Each hub will have a new team leader (working title) running it, so the numbers of people actually out on the coast is being increased - again, a good thing, given they have a lot of other work outside just training / managing teams.

 

[NormanS]

OK - most sector bases are actually one or occasionally two rooms attached to a CRE - that is, a local team's base. All a sector manager really needs, under the current system, is a desk and a filing cabinet.

The new system will see the sector managers grouped together in local "hubs" - probably replacing some outdated team accommodation too. Quite a few of the teams are being merged into "superteams" - which is sensible, given that a team has 12 or so members, needs about 8 to carry out a decent search or rope rescue, and many struggle for cover during the day. Current team locations are pretty much based on where lookouts used to be, so we have some that hardly ever see a job, whilst others are rushed off their feet.

(If you want an idea of what a team does, this is a really good insight - http://swanagecoastguard.blogspot.com/).

So a few of the old sector offices may close, which won't have any impact on SAR but will help reduce the costs of the estate.

We don't know definate locations for a lot of the hubs yet, although a few will be using closed MRCCs.

Each hub will have a new team leader (working title) running it, so the numbers of people actually out on the coast is being increased - again, a good thing, given they have a lot of other work outside just training / managing teams.

I think that you may not realise the geographical extent of the areas that some of the Sector Managers in Scotland are in charge of. Or indeed of the numbers of teams that each manager is supposed to manage, many of which are on scattered islands. We shall see what happens.

 

[chanelyacht]

I think that you may not realise the geographical extent of the areas that some of the Sector Managers in Scotland are in charge of. Or indeed of the numbers of teams that each manager is supposed to manage, many of which are on scattered islands. We shall see what happens.

I'm fully aware of both.

I haven't always been this far south...