It's been confirmed Newark Police station will stay at it's current site
A proposal had been put forward to move it across town
Newark Police Station will stay at its current site after Nottinghamshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner scrapped plans to move it across town to a shared building.
Caroline Henry announced the move is being dropped following a public consultation.
The decision is contrary to the advice of Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable, Craig Guildford, who wanted to relocate the station to a new building alongside council offices.
Mr Guildford had argued move would save his force £103,000 a year, which would be spent on frontline police officers. Following the announcement, he said he respected the decision.
Conservative Mrs Henry, who has been the Commissioner since May, said 79 per cent of people she had surveyed didn’t want the station to move.
The force has previously said around 75 per cent of the building is now not in use.
Mrs Henry said she now intends to work with other agencies to see if they will take up residency in the available space.
The station, on Queen’s Road, was built in 2006 at a cost of £7m. Mr Guildford had said it should go as he wanted “less square feet and more officers on the beat”.
The proposal was to close the station, sell the land, and move to a purpose-built station at Newark and Sherwood District Council headquarters in Castle House.
The Government had planned to fund part of the new development to the tune of £1m.
But when Paddy Tipping (Lab) lost the Police and Crime Commissioner elections in May 2021 to Mrs Henry she quickly announced she wanted to halt work on the move.
She then launched a public survey and said 79 per cent of people who responded were against the plan.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked for details of how many people responded to the survey, but no figures have yet been released.
Mrs Henry said: “I promised to be a listening Commissioner, and that’s exactly what I’ve done. The people of Newark told me they didn’t back the move, so I can’t back it either.
“It’s clear from the results of the survey that people want the police to achieve closer working with partners such as the council, but the loss of a perfectly good building was not the way to do it.
“I will now work tirelessly with the police to find other uses for the building, in an attempt to bring more resource in to the town.
“This will include looking at whether we can share the building with other stakeholders to continue the close working relationship between the police, council, and other partners. I am keen for the Newark police station to become a partnership hub that enables partners to tackle local problems in Newark.
“But for now, the people of Newark can rest assured that I have listened and acted, and the current police station will not be going anywhere on my watch”.
Deputy leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, Cllr Keith Girling (Con), said he was against the decision.
He said: “I think it is an opportunity lost to have the police co-located with us.
“It is bowing down to pressure from a group of people that made a lot of noise.
“We will make the most of it, but I am very disappointed, and it is short sighted.
“The money saved would go to more police in Newark. I hope that does not impact us on a negative level. I don’t know what the impact will be. We don’t want police officers in buildings we want them on the beat.”
Mr Guildford said: “I have provided the Police and Crime Commissioner with my operational advice, and I completely respect her legal right to make this decision.”