Plans to modernise Surrey Police's HQ submitted
Long-awaited plans to modernize Surrey Police’s Guildford headquarters have been published which aim to restore ancient woodland while enhancing rapid response times for officers across the county
Mount Browne, just outside Guildford town centre and within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, has been the force’s HQ since 1949 but is in desperate need of modernisation.
In order to do so, the force plans to sell part of the site and build a new contact centre, dog training school, offices, and car parking.
It is also looking to build a new access road that is says will allow officers to get to some crime scenes within 15 minutes – according to two planning applications submitted to Guildford Borough Council.
Surrey Police decided to upgrade the site, rather than sell it and relocate, in November 2021.
Those plans were delayed after crumbly Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was found in Reigate Police Station sparking an investigation across the rest of its buildings to ensure they were safe.
Surrey Police Deputy Chief Constable, Nev Kemp, said: “The redevelopment of Mount Browne is a critical part of our estates strategy which will help us in our drive to deliver the best policing service possible, by ensuring our people are in the right locations and in buildings that are fit for purpose.
“Mount Browne is not simply a headquarters; it is the focal point for large-scale operation planning; from where our officers and staff can be deployed to emergency incidents; and where new recruits begin their careers in the world of policing.
“This is particularly important as we need to attract and retain the best people to uphold the high level of services we provide the residents in our communities, keeping them safe and ensuring Surrey is the safest county it can be.
“We need fit for purpose facilities and technology which support our operational activity, not just now, but for many more years to come.”
The police want to replace ageing accommodation blocks, upgrade its dog training school and install better kennels for its animals.
Accommodation will be built for students, and parking brought up to modern standards including increased disabled bays, electric vehicle charging points, and secure bicycle storage racks “allowing precious, ancient woodland to be restored to its original state”, a statement read.
The 19th-century Old House building, described as “outdated, poor quality and expensive to manage and maintain” by former Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner David Munro, will be retained.
The force is also looking to build a new access road would to connect the existing southern entrance with the existing Artington roundabout.
The current layout, via The Ridges and Sandy Lane is “challenging but workable” according to planning documents “but the planned introduction of enhanced response policing from the site means improvements are needed if the force is to meet targets of have on-scene officers reach their callouts within 15 minutes.
“The proposals will make an important contribution towards achieving this aim by removing the need to use junctions of Sandy Lane and The Ridges to access onto the A3100” .
This, the application says, would “save up to two minutes at peak times to access onto the A3100 and one minute at non-peak times which can be vital time when responding to a priority 1 call out.”.
At the time of writing, only the planning application for the access road had been published by Guildford Borough Council’s planning department although the campus redevelopment is expected soon.