Declares that the closure of Liverpool Coastguard Station would result in the loss of vital local knowledge and a reduction in the efficiency of rescues of people in difficulty along our coastline and at sea.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to take steps to ensure that Liverpool Coastguard Station remains open.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Bill Esterson, Official Report, 26 October 2011; Vol. 534, c. 435.]
[P000973]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Transport:
Having decided in July that one coastguard centre from each existing operational pair should remain open in the new coastguard rescue co-ordination structure, the Government consulted specifically on whether there were factors that would suggest that Liverpool should be retained in preference to the centre at Holyhead. Consultation ended on 6 October. No new and compelling arguments were put forward and the Government therefore announced on 22 November that given the concerns raised after the first round of consultation about the importance of familiarity with Welsh place names, it would be right to retain a rescue co-ordination function at the Holyhead centre. However, there will still be a coastguard and MCA presence at the Liverpool site in support of the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service and the existing local Marine Office.