Opposition to station closures

PRESSURE is mounting to revise proposals that could result in Henley fire station being closed.

A review is being carried out into response times across Oxfordshire and the station in West Street is one of three that could go due to “persistent low fire engine availability”. Henley Town Council is set to ratify a motion in the new year to object to the plans put forward by Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The Fire Brigades Union has also rejected the proposals and a petition against them now has 1,600 signatures.

Last week, Cherwell District Council formally passed a motion calling on the service to think again on merging Kidlington and the Rewley Road fire stations.

The service says its proposals look to improve response times but opponents have said the data in the consultation is flawed, incomplete and omits cross-border deployments.

Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak, who sits on the town and county council, said the fire service had not responded to the requests to amend data.

He said he is also still waiting for the service to set a date for a public meeting in the town, which the town council has requested.

Cllr Gawrysiak said: “I am sure the data they have provided is accurate but it’s just totally and utterly incomplete.

“If they looked at the data for the Henley area it will be absolutely demonstrable that the deployment time for Henley will be worse and that’s the critical thing.”

Cllr Gawrysiak said under the changes, Henley would become totally reliant on deployment from Caversham, which he said would be unable to meet the required deployment time.

He said: “Oxfordshire’s Fire Service deployment time should be 14 minutes and there is absolutely no way a fire engine is going to come from Caversham in
14 minutes.

“We’ve estimated that it’s a minimum of 21 minutes. I am still calling on the fire service to withdraw this consultation and to publish the correct data for Henley which they not done.

“It’s absolutely clear that we will get a worse service and lives will be put at risk.”

The fire service consultation will close on January 20. To take part, visit tinyurl
.com/m3w48hpc