All change at the top for two Argyll emergency services
NEW faces have arrived to head up two of the emergency services covering Argyll and Bute.
Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service each have their local headquarters in West Dunbartonshire, and it is there that senior officers for the area are based.
But the new commanders for Argyll have the same focus in straitened economic times that service and performance levels are maintained no matter where anyone lives across the region.
Chief Superintendent Hazel Hendren, Argyll’s newest police commander, took up her post in June.
Chief Superintendent Hendren is responsible for the area’s local policing strategy. She is based at the divisional headquarters in Dumbarton.
Chief Superintendent Hendren, who has been in the police for 27 years, previously worked as a superintendent in Glasgow before being promoted to her new role. She has taken over from Grant Manders, who has retired.
Describing her job as an ‘exciting and new challenge’, the Glasgow native is still getting used to one of the more rural sides of Scotland.
She said: ‘Coming from Glasgow, I am used to city policing such as large events and football games. I’m very honoured to have been given this post.
‘It is different because of the rural side of things. I have been getting out and about and asking local people what their expectations are from local policing, and finding out what they think the biggest issues are.
‘I plan to build on the partnerships that were made by Grant during his time as chief superintendent, and maintain the police performance in West Dunbartonshire and Argyll.’
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service area manager Jim McNeil, prior to starting his new role as the senior manager covering Argyll and Bute in May, was based at service headquarters in Cambuslang heading up a year-long project looking at a new duty system for Scotland.
He took over from Jim Hymas, who has moved on to senior officer for the City of Glasgow area.
Coming from the big city to rural Argyll is not something that fazes Mr McNeil too much, as he explained: ‘Previously, I was the deputy commander in East, North and South Ayrshire. These were three dynamic local authorities with whole-time, retained and volunteer stations.
‘Before that I spent three years as a volunteer manager for both retained and volunteer crews, so I have a good knowledge of the kinds of station we have in this area, with 27 volunteer and 16 retained stations.
‘I was used to Arran and Millport in my previous role, so there is a huge familiarity to the geography with all the islands in Argyll and Bute.
‘Travel distance is the big thing here, but whether you are on an island or the mainland it’s my intention that the same level of service delivery is there.’