Police chiefs identify site for Barrow's new station
Last updated at 15:03, Sunday, 29 July 2012
POLICE have identified where they want to build a new state-of-the-art station in Barrow.
Officers have long complained about their present home in Market Street, which has been declared unfit for purpose by the constabulary.
Ray Cole, chairman of the Cumbria Police Authority, told the Evening Mail a preferred site for a completely new station to be built had been found.
It was hoped the land could be purchased in the coming months and work on the new station would get under way in spring next year. Mr Cole said commercial sensitivity meant he was unable to give more details about the exact location of the proposed new station.
Mr Cole also refused to confirm whether or not it would be built in the town centre.
He said: “We will be looking at a new build and that will be a benefit for Barrow. Nothing is sealed and signed for.
“I won’t be drawn on where it is, but I will say that negotiations are taking place.”
In April the authority approved a business proposal to spend as much as £8.5m on a new station.
Barrow Borough Council executive director Phil Huck said he would prefer for it to be in the town centre, but appreciated operational demands could make this impossible.
Space in the town centre was limited and it could take time for a viable site to become available, said Mr Huck.
He said: “Generally, we do try and keep as many workers in the town centre as we can because we try and support shops and businesses there. I have made it clear we would like the station to stay in the town centre, but I have got to be reasonable about that for operational requirements.”
In 2009 we reported police had secured land at Furness Business Park and subsequent reports suggested the station could be rebuilt on the same land. Inspector Mike O’Hagan, of Barrow’s neighbourhood policing team, said he hoped the new building would allow different police units to be consolidated in one centre.
He said: “This (current) station is an older style building, which is not efficient in terms of the amount of money we have to invest in it.”
It is hoped the new station will include a state-of-the-art custody “suite” with 14 cells compared to 10 available now.
Insp O’Hagan added: “We will have purpose-built office accommodation together with the custody upgrade that will be more streamlined allowing for effective management of detainees. Hopefully we will gain some more interviewing space at the same time.”
First published at 13:05, Sunday, 29 July 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
@Jane, I'm not sure if your response was to me, but I'll respond as if it were.
I didn't disagree with the assessment of 'being unfit for purpose' I simply wish to know for which purposes it is unfit?I'd suggest that justification for the millions set aside must have proven the current set-up to be incapable of meeting the public's expectations.As a member of that public I'm interested in knowing what these failures to meet expectation are and how a new facility will turnaround those failures.The Police Authority have these answers because those are the basic questions which formed the basis of the justification exercise in order to gain funds approval in the first place.View all 20 comments on this article
Have your say
when our new council tax bill drop through our door next year
its the police share thats been increasing while the rest of barrow have to make do with cuts to jobs and cuts to services
Posted by MIKE BURNS on 3 August 2012 at 10:06