Salisbury's MP 'wary' of having new police station outside the city
John Glen's waded in on the long-running debate
As discussions continue over where a new police station for Salisbury should be based, the city's MP has explained his thoughts.
John Glen says he thinks the option of building a centre at High Post, would only work if it includes a custody suite and leads to more officers on visible patrols.
Wiltshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, is keen to get new facilities for the city's officers, and says they've found it difficult to come up with a possible location within the city centre.
In his latest blog, John Glen MP says it's been a long-running debate that he'd like to see resolved:
"Those of us who have lived through the history of this, cannot help but feel wary at the thought of a police station located so far outside the city centre.
"The cost of a new build with all bells and whistles would be eye-watering and it runs the risk of becoming a white elephant.
"To my mind, it is an investment that only makes sense if it addresses all our policing needs in one fell swoop – office space and technology for the use of officers, certainly, but also accessibility for the public, and scope for future adaptation.
"I await the public responses with interest, but my personal instinct is to keep the police as close as practicable to the communities they serve.
"For me, a move to High Post is only justifiable if it is the best way to achieve the return of a local custody suite, reducing the time and manpower required to make arrests – and leading directly to more officers carrying out visible patrols and responding to emergency calls."
Mr Glen also points out that he wasn't happy with the move out of the old Wilton Road station:
"When the police decided to give up the station, they had their reasons - it was 50 per cent underoccupied and expensive to run.
"It was not within my or anyone else’s power to overrule their operational judgement, but I did offer qualified support at the time on the condition that the move did not result in any depletion of services.
"In particular, I asked for Salisbury to retain a custody suite. This, I was promised, would be the case."
He does however, say that he's 'grateful' for the discussions now, saying the PCC is conducting them with 'commendable thoroughness'.