Tadley police station faces axe

Closure of Tadley police station among proposals aimed at slashing up to £50m from Hampshire police budgets

PROPOSALS to close Tadley police station, as part of measures designed to slash up to £50m from police estates budgets, are to be considered at a meeting of Hampshire Police Authority next week.

The authority is due to meet in Winchester next Thursday (June 23) to decide on proposals to dispose of up to 40 buildings across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, including the Mulfords Hill-based Tadley Police Station.

The proposals include selling the force's Winchester headquarters and moving the headquarters to a purpose built operational centre in Chandlers Ford, between Winchester and Southampton.

Basingstoke police station would be temporarily closed and staff housed elsewhere, while asbestos is removed from the building.

Kingsclere police station, housed in Kingsclere Village Club, George Street, is to be retained but will be reviewed after June 23.

A total 14 sites will undergo light refurbishment, including Whitchurch police station.

Options for disposal of the buildings include: private sale, or sale by tender, auction (possibly collectively) or email.

A spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary, Jonathan Lee, confirmed any sale of Tadley police station was likely to save £43,000 per year in running costs, including maintenance, repairs and information technology equipment, while the estimated value of the building was not known.

Staff accommodated in the building currently include: six police officers, five police community support officers and one civilian member of staff. They would be re-located to other, yet-to-be identified premises, such as libraries, or council buildings.

Savings would be ploughed into four custody centres, at Hook, Fareham, Winchester and Newport and refurbishment of larger police stations.

Resulting likely problems outlined in the authority's meeting papers include: a lack of car parking at remaining stations, insufficient meeting rooms and storage space, plus compromises in operational security - for example the provision of a secure environment for departments dealing with child abuse cases.

Police officers and staff will be encouraged to use public transport to travel between sites, rather than private vehicles for journeys to/from work.

The smaller stations, many in remote, rural locations, which house Safer Neighbourhood Teams, exist to serve in the heart of communities, but the proposals state no premises are to be decommissioned until these teams have been provided with suitable premises.

For more on this story, see next week's Newbury Weekly News.