Fire chief insists Hawick will be 'safe and well looked after' following changes to service
Last updated 24th Jun 2026
A senior fire officer says he doesn't expect any significant impact on the service when Center Parcs opens in the Scottish Borders.
Area Commander Murray Dalgleish was responding to concerns over the decision to end round-the-clock staffing at Hawick Fire Station, as the area prepares to welcome an estimated 350,000 visitors a year to the new 700-lodge holiday village - currently under construction just off the A7 three miles north of the town.
Speaking at today's meeting of the Scottish Borders Safer Communities committee, he explained the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service had examined the experience of similar developments elsewhere.
"We talked to fire services across the country and we looked into the effects that those places had when they were built in those areas," he said.
"We looked at Penrith, and there was no significant impact in terms of activity or safety that we could find."
Mr Dalgleish said decisions on the future of Hawick Fire Station had been based on "very robust" modelling systems, designed to match resources to local risks and demand.
And he insists local voices are being heard - with some changes made to where additional cover will come from.
He added: "I can absolutely assure the communities, especially in Hawick, that they will be safe and that they will be well looked after with the new proposals.
"If you look at the outcome, we have changed the nucleus crewing, and that was through feedback from representative bodies and local staff.
"We recognised that that needed to be changed, because there were question marks around that."
Mr Dalgleish said the fire service had a responsibility to balance community feedback with operational evidence.
"When we temporarily removed 10 pumping appliances across various locations in Scotland, there were similar concerns at that time from residents."
But he added: "A thorough review of those changes ... provided a result that brought back no negative impact on any of the outcomes at all that we see as our key performance indicators."
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Meanwhile, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has announced a new specialist wildfire response capability covering the Scottish Borders, Midlothian and East Lothian.
Following investment in equipment, vehicles and training, the service now has access to an all-terrain wildfire vehicle based in Musselburgh, alongside welfare support units in Galashiels, Lauder and Coldstream.
Officers have also been trained as welfare tactical advisers to support crews during major incidents.
Mr Dalgleish said: "This new specialist response improves our ability to safely and effectively deal with the wildfires and improves community resilience, particularly in rural areas.
"We're also working on a wildfire prevention strategy which involves engaging with landowners to share knowledge and training and create fire plans to assist operational crews if they attend incidents at these locations."
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Councillors were also told a new practical selection test centre has opened at Galashiels Fire Station in a bid to boost recruitment of on-call firefighters across the Borders.
The facility means candidates will no longer need to travel outwith the region to complete assessments.
Fire chiefs hope the move will improve recruitment and retention, helping to increase appliance availability at local stations.
The first practical selection tests are due to take place in Galashiels this weekend, with between 10 and 13 candidates expected to take part.
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