Fire station closure plans set to be abandoned

A plan to close three fire stations is set to be dropped, a council has revealed.

Previously, stations at Woodstock, Eynsham and Henley were considered for closure due to "persistent low availability of on-call crews", Oxfordshire County Council said.

However, councillors are recommended to abandon the cuts, and to halt the removal of one of two fire engines at Thame, at a meeting on 21 April.

Chief fire officer Rob MacDougall said he would focus on recruitment in the three station areas instead.

He said: "What we have heard is real concerns from people about losing some of those community assets, those local fire stations.

"And we've heard they want to support us in keeping them open, to help us with recruitment and retention of those firefighters."

A package of changes was proposed by Oxfordshire County Council to address response times and a lack of on-call crew availability.

The authority said proposals for Rewley Road fire station in Oxford had been shelved, due to "uncertainty around developer negotiations" over the building of a new fire station towards the north of the city.

It said a specialist rescue tender would remain in Kidlington.

The authority provided no initial update on its plans to change shifts at stations in Wallingford (or Crowmarsh), Faringdon, Witney, Bicester and Chipping Norton.

Oxfordshire County Council received about 1,500 responses to a public consultation, including opposition from the University of Oxford.

In March, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said its Oxfordshire members had voted overwhelmingly in support of potential strike action.

Chris Wycherley from the FBU said: "This is a victory built on the strength and determination of firefighters across Oxfordshire.

"From the very beginning, members were clear that these cuts would put their communities at risk and they were prepared to stand together to stop them.

"The level of support from the public has been incredible, and it shows just how valued the fire service is. This result proves that when firefighters and communities unite, we can defeat cuts that would put lives in danger."

Previously, the fire service estimated the closures would save more than £600,000 in annual costs and the sale of the buildings would bring in £1.2m in revenue.

MacDougall said: "By not going ahead with the closure of fire stations, that will obviously impact on some of the finances.

"But we know that it's really good value for the taxpayer if we can get on-call fire stations that are well-resourced, have good crews and can provide that availability when we need them."

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