Search for
Search for
Search forLifeboat ban brothers in Commons mission
Friday, November 21, 2008, 09:41
Lifeboat brothers Ian and Paul Pedrick are travelling to London with Totnes MP Anthony Steen for the House of Commons meeting with Transport Under Secretary of State Jim Fitzpatrick.
It was the minister who recently declared that it was unlikely that the Hope Cove boat would be able to operate under the strict launch conditions that were being imposed by coastguard bosses on safety grounds.
Mr Steen said he and the Hope Cove delegation want to know just who will be carrying out lifesaving rescue operations if the Hope Cove boat is banned from the sea.
He said they planned to discuss the future of the Hope Cove boat and the Government's proposed decommissioning of the craft.
Said Mr Steen: "With the boat at Hope Cove wallowing in a damp garage in Kingsbridge, I will be seeking assurances from the Minister as to who will respond in an emergency at Hope Cove when the Bantham boat, a rubber-duck surf boat, has limited operational capabilities and the Salcombe boat takes 25 minutes to reach Hope Cove."
Hope Cove is in the middle of a notorious stretch of coastline popular with divers who like to dive on the wrecks which have piled up there over the centuries.
There has been a lifeboat of some sort at the village of Hope Cove for almost 100 years.
But now strict conditions have been imposed on the 5.5-metre Hope Cove rescue boat which makes it virtually impossible for it to be launched in winter sea conditions.
The move follows a summer row with coastguard bosses after the Hope Cove crew launched against orders to help save a teenage girl who was drowning in front of them some 200 yards off shore.
A few hours later coastguard officers arrived at the village, confiscated the boat and locked it away in a garage in Kingsbridge.
Comment on this story