Yesterday NSW Farmers’ announced its members voted unanimously at the organisation’s annual conference last week to lobby for a city to country relocation.

Orange City Council has also made a bid to make Orange the new location for the headquarters instead of its current 5000 square-metre site at 15 Carter Street, Lidcombe, which was purpose-built about 10 years ago.

NSW Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said the NSW RFS had been advised by Government Property NSW that the property owner would not renew the lease for 15 Carter Street when it expired in 2018. Between 350 and 400 employees are likely to be affected.

“The area is being rezoned for residential development as part of the Carter Street Urban Activation Plan. While it would be preferable to remain in the current premises, a search for a new location has commenced,” deputy commissioner Rogers said.

Although he did not comment on whether regional locations were being considered, he said the key factors included availability of key functional services and resources, such as redundant power supply and high speed data infrastructure, geographical proximity to other emergency service agencies for coordinated firefighting efforts and accessibility for media, to provide essential key safety messages and warnings during major incidents.

“The NSW RFS has faced a number of challenging fire seasons in recent years. Lessons learnt from these seasons will also inform decisions regarding the location and design of the new headquarters building,” he said.

NSW Farmers’ executive councillor and Orange councillor Reg Kidd said the relocation of the Department of Primary Industries to Orange showed it could be successful.

“This is a perfect opportunity to move a government department to a rural region without impacting on its effectiveness and efficiency,” he said.

“In the wake of the planned closure of Electrolux a move by the RFS to Orange would be a huge boost for the community.”

It is understood several other councils, including Dubbo City Council have put their hand up to receive the headquarters.

tanya.marschke@fairfaxmedia.com.au