Kent Fire and Rescue Service set to open public consultation
The proposal would include closing five on-call stations, removing extra units from four others, and moving fire engines to match busier demand
Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) plan to launch a public consultation today to gather feedback on new proposals.
Subject to approval by the Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority (KMFRA), this 12-week consultation is scheduled to commence on Thursday, 25th June 2026.
A key proposal includes closing five standalone on-call fire stations—located in Grain, Wye, Chilham, Westerham, and Cliffe—due to lower demand and risk in these areas.
As well as removing the on-call sections from four wholetime fire stations—Herne Bay, Deal, Tunbridge Wells, and Faversham—where data indicates a decreased need for a second fire engine.
Additionally, KFRS is proposing the relocating of fire engines at night from larger stations to enhance daytime cover at Strood, Ashford, and Folkestone.
Proposed Closures
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio Kent about the plans, KFRS Chief Executive Ann Millington said the decision was based on seven years worth of data:
"We've then got more availability at night, but the demand is more in the day.
"So we're moving some of the fire engines on our whole time stations to give us better day cover, at the same time as doing some internal work around shift changes to get better cover over the peak periods, which when we get more crashes sadly on the roads.
"And at the same time, there are certain stations around the county where the demand has significantly dropped over the years.
"What we then find is that it's better with limited resources to move those people, and we're trying to avoid any compulsory redundancies, into doing something that gives us better cover, given also that our risks are changing.
"For instance, we now have more wildfires in the summer, and you need a different kind of flexibility for that."
On the potential closures she added:
"In terms of the potential station closures, we start the consultation on the 25th of June, after the Fire Authority meeting. That finishes on the 17th of September.
"And we take the results of that into the 15th of October Fire and Rescue Authority meeting again.
"If they make the decision, those stations will close.
"In effect, they would close that night.
"So we would stop availability from that night.
"But in the meantime, we're working with all of those colleagues to make sure that they've understood their choices and so on.
"So we've got seven different options that they can take. And we're working very early with people to try and ensure that they know where they stand very, very quickly.
"We are wanting to keep their skills and so on. So that's really important for us."
The Consultation
On the Consultation itself, Millington said:
"It's very emotional, especially obviously to colleagues who have been committed for a long time to their stations to hear this.
"But at the same time, we are talking sometimes about stations that have had so little demand. In a particular year, for instance, they may have been to 7 incidents.
"So it means they don't even get the right level of experience to give us that assurance that they've got the level of safety that they need and so on."
On getting involved she asked that people consider the facts as well as the emotional response changes may bring:
"We do want people to get to get engaged and look at the consultation.
"But whilst there will be a motion, if people can also look at it through that kind of lens of, 'OK, what's the kind of facts? What are the things they're trying to do?' and see those at the same time as recognizing their own emotional reaction to it.
"So where we may be closing a station in the local area. Knowing that we are going to be having a second fire engine, for instance in Strood, where we haven't got one now, to cover the peninsula area more effectively than we do now.
"So it's trying to look at the facts and not just completely filling in the questionnaire from an emotional base.
"That will help us considerably."
Response
Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said “nothing is off the table” in Kent as it examines options to oppose the plans as well as changes to shift patterns.
Union bosses say that 76 part-time ‘on call’ firefighters’ jobs (out of 437 in Kent) could be vulnerable while five fire stations may close under the proposed changes.
A Conservative county councillor claimed the proposals would be like playing “Russian roulette” with public safety.
There are currently 578 full-time operational firefighters in Kent at 56 fire stations, according to the union.
FBU leaders met with three Reform UK Kent County Council (KCC) members on Monday evening.
FBU regional chair Tim Green said the talks with Cllrs Thomas Mallon, Trevor Shonk and James Defriend – who are all KMFRA (governing body of the Kent Fire and Rescue Service) board members – were “very constructive”.
Cllr Mallon, who chairs the board, declined to comment before the KMFRA annual meeting later today. Twenty-one KCC members sit on the board.
Mr Green said: “The discussions were very constructive with the Reform councillors asking a lot of questions and drilling into the details.
“But the fact remains that we are opposed to the proposed changes and nothing is off the table in Kent and that includes industrial action.”
Conservative county councillor Bill Barrett said: “As a local councillor and resident of Kent I am extremely concerned that these proposed cuts to fire stations and fire engine capacity will be akin to playing Russian roulette with public safety.
“The people behind this need to take a very, very long look in the mirror and ask how this is even being discussed.
“Especially as we enter a period of ever increasing extreme weather events and the fact firefighters, fire engines and fire stations will be front and centre as we combat these issues.”
The FBU says on-call members earn around £6-7,000 a year on average for being on standby 50 hours a week.
The union said the loss of on-call firefighters would be mitigated by seven proposed full-time operational replacement roles, which the reservists can apply for.
On-call firefighters often perform their duties alongside a full-time job.
A rally by the Save Our Fire Stations campaign group is due to take place at 9am before the KMFRA meeting today at Straw Mill Hill, Tovil, Maidstone.