Cheshire Fire Authority has published its draft plan designed to save around £5 million over the next four years.
The authority says the proposals will improve the average time it takes crews to get to life threatening fires and help the Service meet expected budget cuts.
Plans include building up to five new stations to improve response times in key areas, two of which will act as operational hubs near key motorway junctions; keeping the same number of fire engines but reducing the number of full time firefighters at stations which have two fire engines and increasing the number of part-time or 'on-call' firefighters.
No changes are proposed for Wilmslow Fire Station which has one fire engine operated by Nucleus Crewing, where firefighters work 12 hour shifts covering the period of peak activity, with "on-call" staff, who live within five minutes of the station, covering the rest.
Wilmslow station deals with an average 6.94 calls per week and over the last three financial years there has been a 6.2% reduction in the number of incidents attended.
The plans will take a number of years to implement but Members of the Fire Authority, the body which manages the fire and rescue service on behalf of local people, say they are confident that no firefighters will face compulsory redundancy.
The fire service launched a consultation last week which runs until 17th December.
The full plan and supporting documents are available on the Cheshire Fire & Rescue website along with the survey. Alternatively email [email protected] or call 01606 868408.
As part of the consultation process, a series of public roadshows are being held and they will be attending a range of meetings and focus groups to gather the views of residents and local organisations.
The consultation roadshow will be at Wilmslow Library on 15th October.
