Fire Service Consultation Extended Until January 2026

Residents and businesses are being given more time to help shape the future of Oxfordshire’s fire and rescue service after Oxfordshire County Council extended its public consultation deadline to the end of January 2026.

The consultation, which was due to close on 20 January, is seeking views on proposals designed to ensure fire stations, resources and staff are located where they are most needed as the county grows and changes.

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.”

The proposals follow a review of how Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service delivers emergency response and community safety across the county. The review highlighted challenges including declining on-call firefighter numbers, with a 36 per cent reduction in full-time equivalent on-call staff over the past decade, and lower daytime availability when demand is highest.

Options under consultation include reallocating resources to better match risk, expanding prevention and protection work, and reviewing current operations to ensure long-term resilience.

Several proposals focus on Rewley Road fire station, including removing its on-call fire engine due to long-standing staffing shortages. Other options include creating new day-shift fire engines in towns such as Wallingford, Witney and Bicester, relocating resources to a new station north of Oxford, and changes at stations including Thame, Woodstock, Eynsham and Henley.

Councillor Jenny Hannaby, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing and Safety, said: “Your feedback is really important in helping us provide an even better fire and rescue service. The more opinions we receive, the more we can be confident that the decisions we take at the end of the consultation will deliver the kind of fire and rescue service you want across Oxfordshire.”

No station closures have been confirmed.