CLOSURE OF TEESMOUTH LIFEBOAT STATION

[TC]

Just got ya e-mail, Jim - and replied

[willywetegg]

Cheer\'s again Tony.

Will be in touch about the weekend mate.

Jim.

[TC]

E-mails sent and letter posted.
Wonder if I\'ll get a reply from anybody - if & when I do, I\'ll post them on here.

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

E mails sent .

[Charlton]

Letter from Michael Vlasto 12th April 2006, would have posted sooner but have not been here

I am writing to inform you that, following a two-year review of lifeboat cover in the Tees Bay area, the RNLI\'s Trustees have decided to close Teesmouth Lifeboat Station. You may already have seen media coverage of this issue but I wanted to ensure that, as a valued supporter of the RNLI, all the facts behind this decision were made available to you.

I am sure you understand that difficult decisions of this nature are only ever made for very sound operational reasons. In this case, there is a clear over-provision of lifeboat cover in the area, with two all weather lifeboats only four miles apart (Teesmouth and Hartlepool) and a total of eight modern, effective lifeboats along that 25 mile stretch of coastline.

It is important to realise that 75% of the 108 services carried out by Teesmouth all weather lifeboat since 2000 could have been safely undertaken by the Hartlepool and Redcar inshore lifeboats. The remaining services (no more than five or six annually) could have been covered by the new Hartlepool all weather lifeboat. In addition the lifeboats at Staithes & Runswick and Whitby can be deployed to Tees Bay if required.

As a supporter of the RNLI, you will appreciate that we have a duty to make the best use of our voluntary donations. This means we must run our lifeboat service as efficiently as possible and can not continue to maintain lifeboats where there is no clear operational need.

The pattern of lifeboat cover on the North East coast dates back to a time when RNLI lifeboats were only capable of eight knots and every small port had a fishing fleet. Today\'s all weather lifeboats are far more powerful than their predecessors, offer more protection to their volunteer crews and have a top speed of 25 knots. Also, the demands on our lifeboat service have changed greatly in recent years, with more than two-thirds of rescues now being carried out by our inshore lifeboats.

Tees Bay is served by one of the highest concentrations of lifeboats anywhere on the 11,072 mile coastline of mainland Great Britain. Therefore despite the withdrawal of one all weather lifeboat from Tees Bay, the RNLI is confident that the remaining seven lifeboats and their volunteer crews will still be well able to meet the RNLI\'s `performance standards\'- that is, to reach at least 90 per cent of all casualties within 10 nautical miles of its lifeboat stations within 30 minutes of launch, in all weathers.


Throughout our long history, the RNLI has provided a life saving service to meet the demands of sea users and reconfiguring lifeboat cover in this way is not a new phenomenon. We have always adjusted lifeboat cover around the coast to keep pace with the type and level of rescues taking place and advances in technology - we must continue to do this. However, please be reassured that we would never withdraw a lifeboat if there was a strong operational reason for maintaining it. The RNLI exists to save lives at sea and this will always be the driving force behind any decisions relating to lifeboat cover.

Teesmouth lifeboat station has a long and distinguished tradition, however this is a sad but necessary step if the RNLI is to continue to respond to the changing needs of all sea-users and thereby continue to meet its charitable objectives. Nevertheless we recognise that this closure will arouse strong feelings, particularly among Teesmouth\'s committed crew and many loyal supporters, all of whom the Institution thanks whole-heartedly for all they have done to save lives at sea, but it is the right decision and we very much hope that they will remain involved with the RNLI and indeed are encouraging them to become involved with other local lifeboat stations.

I hope this letter has helped explain the rationale behind the Trustees\' decision but if you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the address overleaf.

Finally, may I take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support of the RNLI, without which our volunteer crews would not have the boats, equipment and training they need to carry out their life-saving task.


Yours sincerely
Michael Vlasto
Operations Director





[Edited on 18/4/2006 by Charlton]

[TC]

Thanks for that, Alan.

What\'s the betting that if I do recieve a reply to my letter, it will be the same letter you\'ve just posted - the \"official line\".

Interesting to read the bit which says, \"As a supporter of the RNLI, you will appreciate that we have a duty to make the best use of our voluntary donations.\"
Does that \"duty\" include the squandering of £400,000 of those \"voluntary donations\" on building a complete new All Weather facility, 2 years prior to closing it down, I wonder?

[Charlton]

Like to see his answers to those Q TC,

[TC]

If I get \'em, you\'ll see \'em, Alan.

[MikeR]

Staithes & Runswick which is located at Staithes? Take it they have got rid of the Runswick inshore boat then? Sure I saw them last year launching from Runswick.

All this talk of getting boats in from other areas is fine as long as there\'s not a big sea running and nobody needs towing. Got a very bad feeling that it\'ll take a disaster to make them see sense!

[TC]

\".......it\'ll take a disaster to make them see sense!\"

Yep......that\'s the way it usually works in these sort of things, Mike !

[Oblickta]

Has the person who made the decision to overprovide by £400 000 and wasted valuable RNLI resources still in a job? If the area is so well covered by lifeboats why did they build another station two years ago?

I think with nearly half a billion in reserve and the interest accumalated every year, the RNLI could make huge savings by sacking their \"overproviding\" proffesionals for incompetence and get some honest, caring volanteers to manage their funds properly, just like the guys who risk their own lives all year round and never ask for a penny! I\'m sure there must be accountancy proffesioals etc. who use the sea for pleasure just as we do. After all, the RNLI is a charity

[TC]

Graham, please feel free to send your comments to:

Mike Vlasto (RNLI Operations Director) mvlasto@rnli.org.uk


Andrew Freemantle (RNLI Chief Executive and Secretary) afreemantle@rnli.org.uk


Sir Jock Slater
Chairman RNLI
RNLI Headquarters
West Quay Road
POOLE
Dorset
BH15 1HZ

I\'m sure they\'d be happy to recieve them and answer your queries (well.....mebbies not \"happy\")

[TC]

No replies yet

[TC]

Seems that there\'s a MASSIVE show of support for the retention of the Teesmouth station from the local community down there.

This support for the station and the annoyance at the proposed closure could result in a huge drop in public and corporate donations to the RNLI. Based on figures calculated over the past five years, the RNLI are looking at a loss of 3.5 million in donations over the next 10 years, if they carry their closure plans forward.

Lets\' hope that money talks - or rather the possibility of losing it, in this case - and that they think again about their closure proposals.

[willywetegg]

Hopefully yes Tony but it has to be a contiued thing mate.

With a £481 million surplus they can carry on untill the public forget.

Lets start to wonder how many times they have done it before.

Jim.