Ayrshire Civil Contingencies Team

Emergency Planning

In an emergency call the Duty Officer: 01292 266289

Every local authority is faced with the possibility of having to cope with the effects of a major civil emergency that may place an unreasonable burden upon its routine services. However, no hard and fast rules can be drawn up to meet all such possible emergencies as time, nature, scale and location will determine the type of response required.

The main threats that must be considered when planning for emergencies in South Ayrshire include:

• Severe Weather: such as flooding, storms or blizzards and freezing conditions resulting in major disruption and damage to the area as a whole or individual communities within it.
• Transportation Accidents: such as major rail incidents, spillage of dangerous goods from road tankers, marine transport incidents and aircraft incidents at Prestwick Airport.
• Oil Pollution: having a large coastline the threat of oil pollution and other toxic releases from marine incidents remains a serious threat.
• Nuclear Incidents: includes both civilian and military threats from Hunterston Nuclear Power Station in North Ayrshire and the Royal Navy submarines en-route to Faslane.
• Crowd Related Incidents: specific threats that occur when large numbers of the public meet in one place such as sporting events at Ayr Racecourse or Ayr United's Somerset Park or at specialist events such as the annual Flower Show, Scotland’s Rural College or Burns Festivals.
• Industrial Related Incidents: such as an incident occurring at one of the many industrial sites within the Council Boundaries (i.e. Wm. Grant and Sons (Distillers) in Girvan), or effects of an incident happening at an industrial site outside the Council area affecting South Ayrshire (gas pipeline failure).
• Other Incidents: such as building collapse, major power failure, Chemical, Biological or Radiological incident, terrorist or hostage incidents at Prestwick, mains water supply failure, public health issues or industrial disputes with major human consequences such as the loss of a major public utility.

Emergencies Planning is responsible for preparing the Council's response to a major incident or an emergency situation. This is done through Integrated Emergency Management, training and planning.

The plans prepared by this section include:

• Civil Emergency Plan and Directory;
• Rest Centre Emergency Procedures;
• Contingency Plans covering Rabies, Foot & Mouth etc; and
• Site specific Multi Agency Incident Response Guides (MAIRGs) for sites such as Ayr and Troon Harbour and ISP Alginates.

Regular liaison takes place with internal council services, the Emergency Services, the local health authority and voluntary organisations to ensure that during emergency situations everyone is prepared.

Address

Ayrshire Civil Contingencies Team
Building 372
Alpha Freight Area
Robertson Road
Glasgow Prestwick International Airport
Prestwick KA9 2PL

Tel: 01292 692181
Fax: 01292 692184
Mobile: 07767 650633
Email: david.whyte@south-ayrshire.gov.uk

In an emergency call the Duty Officer: 01292 266289