GRAYSHOTT residents can now have their say on the future of the fire and rescue service after the county announced a formal consultation on a “more relevant and efficient” service aimed at making a £5m dent in the budget.

The village’s retained fire crew based at the Headley Road fire station is one of those under threat under a “risk review” and is part of Hampshire’s proposals to cut jobs and introduce smaller “intermediate response vehicles”.

All retained crew, who are on call during varying shift patterns, live or work within four minutes’ travel time from the fire station.

The station, at present manned by up to 12 firefighters at a time, risks having a team of eight on call with a smaller appliance, which the authority estimates could improve average response times and save around £28,000 a year.

Serving a population of 5,370 around the village, it also covers Headley, as well as providing support to Haslemere fire station across the Surrey border.

The station is also on the attendance list for any incidents at the A3 Hindhead tunnel.

In January, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) launched a major recruitment campaign for more retained firefighters at Grayshott. It appealed for more people to come forward after the station fell short of part-timers needed to crew its fire appliance.

Proposals approved earlier this month by the service’s governing body, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority, include cutting 225 jobs from the workforce of around 1,200 through “natural wastage”, throughout the county.

The authority suggests cutting full-time and retained posts, although all 51 stations will remain open.

The review of how the fire service runs, its manning and locations for different types of fire appliance, follows similar service cuts and changes in West Sussex and a money-saving policy in Surrey through “natural wastage” of staff.

HFRS which has an annual budget of £65million, faces a £12million deficit over the next four years. An increase in council tax is also considered in the proposals.

The 12-week formal consultation runs until Friday, December 4, with public meetings being held in October and November at four of the county’s bigger towns, with senior fire officers on hand to answer questions.

“The service has prepared proposals to redefine how incidents will be responded to, including different vehicle and crewing models, to create a more relevant and efficient fire and rescue service,” said a spokesman.

The review states that reducing immediate response firefighters from 576 to 488 and on-call firefighters from 656 to 519 will make the service "more efficient and streamlined".

Chief Officer Dave Curry said: “The people of Hampshire will have the chance to make their voice heard on some incredibly important proposals that will shape the future of their fire service for years to come.

“We want to deliver an effective service in accordance with the needs of its local communities, ensuring that we match our resources to levels of known risk. In light of the changes in risk across Hampshire and potential financial challenges, it is vital that we remain relevant, become more efficient and provide the people of Hampshire with a first-class fire and rescue service.

“I strongly encourage Hampshire residents to take part in this formal consultation process and tell us what they think of the proposed changes to help us to provide the best possible service back to them.”

Hampshire residents can take part either by completing the questionnaire online or by requesting a hard copy and/or by attending a public meeting.

The proposals and the questionnaire can be found at www.hantsfire.gov.uk/a-safer-hampshire.

The public meetings dates are: Winchester - October 14, Basingstoke – October 19, Southampton – November 9, Portsmouth – November 11.

The Fire Brigades Union has raised safety concerns regarding the plans.

Hampshire FBU secretary Gary Jackson said: "If these proposals go through, when the [general public] dials 999 in some places they will not get a fire engine with a full crew able to deal with pretty much any emergency that’s thrown at them as an initial response.

"They possibly will get two firefighters in a van waiting for other resources before they can make an intervention."

Neil Odin, HFRS’ deputy chief fire officer, said the changes were about improving services.

He said: “Hampshire’s a changing place… focussing on the needs of our community is what the risk review has done and these proposals, should the authority agree to the consultation, will really focus on the things we need to do: changing technology on the frontline and really focussing on restaffing our fire stations in a way which is appropriate.”