JANUARY

Deadline extended for survey on concerning fire service changes

Oxfordshire County Council, which is responsible for local Fire and Rescue Services, is asking for your views on proposed changes to how they respond to emergencies. They say they want to ensure that more fire engines are consistently available, and that they can get to incidents across Oxfordshire more quickly.

However, there have been criticism of their proposals by the Fire Brigades Union and  councillors in Kidlington and West Oxfordshire. And concerns have been raised over the impact on villages like Steeple and Middle Aston.

Two young firefighters attended Steeple Aston’s Parish Council meeting on Monday, 19th January. They said that aid that they felt the changes being proposed were “about hitting targets rather than safety”. Steeple Aston will very much be affected if the proposals go ahead – with our area possibly being covered by just two fire engines (and eight firefighters) rather than the current five engines (with 35 firefighters) with longer wait times and decreased night time cover. They spoke passionately on the topic saying they feared safety was being compromised

The survey deadline has been extended until Saturday 31st January, so it’s important to act now.

The complex proposals suggest closing stations in Kidlington and Oxford’s Rewley Road and replacing them with a single new station in North Oxford. There would be new 12-hour day shifts for full-time firefighters at five currently on-call fire stations including Bicester. On call crews will provide cover at night.

On call stations in Eynsham, Woodstock and Henley are also proposed for closure, but no change is proposed for our nearest on call station in Deddington.

The county council say the proposals are designed to:

  • Match resources to risk, based on an understanding of where incidents are most likely to happen across Oxfordshire to ensure that the right level of cover is available in those areas.
  • Improve community safety, with the service continuing to conduct prevention and protection work, but reshaped and enhanced to meet the changing needs of Oxfordshire’s communities.
  • Futureproof the service by reviewing how it operates, which will help in making informed decisions that ensure long-term sustainability and resilience.

You can see the detailed proposals and take the survey here. The closing date for responses is 31st January.  https://letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ofrs-consultation

The Fire Service has also produced a document responding to some of the criticisms of their proposals. It’s called Facts First.