Meeting the new Dep...

Call me an old cynic, but it was with very little interest that we all trouped upstairs to meet the (relatively) new Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Dep) of Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service. I suppose we were all thinking this would be the 'same old, same old' that we have witnessed on numerous occasions.
We usually ask plenty of questions and are promised plenty of answers but these tend to be as rare as hen's teeth! Some wit swore blind that the notes made at these little gatherings normally get chucked out of the car window as the Principal Office speeds back to Ipswich and the safety of Endeavour House!

Someone, somewhere, usually whispers to a Principal Officer that a visit to the wilds of North Suffolk is overdue and that they have pulled, metaphorically, the short straw. With a heavy heart, a full tank of petrol (in case they get lost) and SatNav that refuses to accept that there is life north of Ipswich, they head off into the unknown.

I'm sure Lowestoft is viewed a bit like the English view Scotland - you know it's a long way away, you know they speak differently, there's some nice scenery but you find every excuse under the sun for not making the journey.

Anyway, back to last nights little soiree...

I have to give it to the new Dep, he came across far better than previous incumbents and actually answered questions instead of deflecting them, politician style. Topics that are usually bones of contention were brought up by the Dep and, perhaps, defused before they had a chance to go off.

Having served all his career with just one brigade (Essex) has, I think, helped. He has seen how one brigade works from bottom to top and one that has a large retained firefighter complement too. Time will tell whether this makes the new Dep better than the usual brigade-hopping suspects!

If anyone from Normanshurst or Clifton has any comments about this, agrees with what I've said or wonders whether we were at the same gathering - leave a comment via the form below.