Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service consultation extended

The consultation, which has received more than 900 responses, had been scheduled to close tomorrow (Tuesday) but has been extended to garner “as wide a contribution of opinions as possible”.

A review is being carried out into response times across Oxfordshire and the on-call Henley station in West Street is one of three that could be axed due to “persistent low fire engine availability”.

The County Council says the closures are “forecast to have a minimal impact on overall response performance due to the ability to deliver a fire engine response from surrounding stations”.

However, opponents to Henley’s closure argue that response times will increase from approximately eight minutes to more than 18 minutes if it is removed.

The consultation seeks views on a range of proposals to match resources to risk, improve community safety and futureproof the service.

The central option in the consultation involves creating five, day-shift fire engines by reallocating firefighters from existing roles to help address staffing levels elsewhere in the county.

This is due to greater availability of resources at night, when demand is lowest, and lower availability during the day when demand is higher.

Rob MacDougall, Oxfordshire County Council’s fire and rescue service’s chief fire officer, said: “I’d like to thank everyone who has already shared their thoughts on our proposals through the public consultation. We’ve had over 900 responses to date.

“Based on the interest shown, and because we want as wide a contribution of opinions as possible, we’ve now decided to keep it open for another couple of weeks, until the end of this month.

“It’s important that we regularly review our resources, understand where incidents are most likely to happen and ensure we have the right level of emergency cover in those areas.   

“We provide a fire and rescue service for the people of Oxfordshire, and I want them to play an active role in helping us plan and shape the future of the service by participating in our public consultation.”

The consultation is available online, letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ofrs-consultation