Oxfordshire fire stations to get a green facelift

Councillors in Oxfordshire County Council have agreed a plan to decarbonise six fire stations as part of a £10m package designed to achieve substantial carbon reductions across its estate.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is part of the county council and its fire stations are included in the council’s Property Decarbonisation Programme. The list of 20 properties was discussed by elected members in a meeting last week; alongside the six fire stations, the list includes libraries and support services for children and families.

The funding confirmation comes after a successful bid to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme where other fire and rescue services have also secured funds in previous bidding rounds. The £10m funding from the council was agreed earlier in February as part of its ten year capital programme. The grant funding is a small part of the total, at just £360k and needs to be spent within 12 months.

The potential carbon savings associated with this list of 20 properties have been estimated
to be 333 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The six fire stations account for 85 tonnes of those CO2 emissions.

Through the electrification of heating, building fabric improvements, electrical efficiency
improvements and deployment of renewable electricity generation technology, the council estimates the cost savings for the changes made to the six fire stations will be in the region of £11k every year.

The list of fire stations includes Bicester Fire Station – shown in the photo above – as well as those in Didcot, Wantage, Henley, Abingdon and Bampton.

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Read about the recipients of the last round of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme – More funding to boost decarbonisation of estates.