DUP representatives meet with District Commander

Brenda Hale MLA, Paul Givan MLA and Jonathan Craig MLA, who is also a member of the Policing Board, held their meeting last Friday.

In a statement released on behalf of all three MLAs they said, “The reason it was important that we should meet with the District Commander with regard to use of the station is that the report that is given by the PSNI with regard to station closures in which they advise on which stations should or should not close is based on the advice given by the District Commanders.

“The meeting last Friday was a very important meeting with regard to the future use of the station and I must point out that whilst some MLAs were able to give very good reasons why they could not attend, the only members who turned up for this important meeting were members of the DUP.

“We think this is something which other parties in the locality need to reflect on very carefully. There is no point is saying one thing in public but privately doing little or nothing about the situation.”

The statement said that the MLAs felt that there was some confusion around where the future of Dromore Police Station lies.

It was hoped that measures being taken by the Policing Board would ensure that at least some rural police stations would be saved. The local MLAs reaffirmed their commitment to keeping the Dromore station open.

“The process with regard to what is called ‘the Estates Strategy within the PSNI’ is that they make proposals with regard to what Stations they need in the next term (four years),” it said.

“These proposals were brought to the Investment and Review Committee on the Policing Board last month which included a list of 34 stations for potential closure. At both the Committee Meeting last month and the full Board Meeting this month, the entire Policing Board rejected these proposals from the PSNI.

“There was agreement at the Board that a small Working Party be set up to speak to the PSNI regarding their proposed strategy as Members of the Board felt that there was no rural provision within the strategy. It was also felt that there was no due diligence to the good use of public funds as a number of these stations had a large amount of public funds spent on them. There is also the issue of how local community policing can be delivered without a base from which to work.”

The statement added, “All of the above duly affect Dromore Police Station and at this point in time there is a small Working Party who will work with the Police on these issues and I have no doubt that in the near future (January/February) a modified or revised plan will come back to the Policing Board from the PSNI.

“As members for the Lagan Valley, we will be pushing for stations such as Dromore which is well utilised by the Police in the area to remain open. They have successfully managed good relations with the community in the area and also provide a service to the Rathfriland community due to the closure of its Police Station.”