'New police station site' sold off for £657,000

THE Police Service of Northern Ireland has sold off a site which was originally designated for Ballymoney's new police station.

The site at Market Street had been earmarked for the development before it was decided to locate the new facility on grounds currently in use by police at Charlotte Street.

As it was no longer required for the work, the PSNI sold off the Market Street land for 657,000 in April of this year.

Back in March, police said work was set to begin on Ballymoney's new multi-million pound Police Station within the following two months.

According to the Area Commander John Magill 'the money had been set aside and the site is being prepared' for the new facility which will replace Westoncroft House on Charlotte Street.

DPP member Beth Lindsay then asked if the plans 'were the original design' or had been 'scaled down'.

Addressing the question, Inspector David Anderson added: "The plans are for a building of around 22,000sq ft , slightly larger than the current facilities. It is a substantial building and full planning permission is in place. We are expecting the contractor to start in April/May, they will demolish the old Westoncroft House which has already been vacated, and then work on the new building can begin.

"It will take around 18 months to build, so we're looking at late 2011 completion date."

Speaking to the Times on Friday, North Antrim DUP MLA Mervyn Storey said he was confident the development programme is still on track.

Mr Storey said the work for the building of the new station had gone to tender and should be finalised shortly.

"It is hoped the developers will be on site this year," he said.

"I will be keeping an eye to make sure if doesn't fall foul of current budgetary pressures and I will be meeting with the Justice Department also."

Mr Storey said he was "frustrated" that the new station seems likely to be open to the public from 8am to 8pm, as the current facility is.

"I'm still not happy Ballymoney has the prospect of a new station which is only open part-time," he added.

Answering a number of questions from District Policing Partnership member Joe Donaghy back in March regarding the reduction of officers and stations, the Chief Constable of Northern Ireland Matt Baggott said: "I hope to reduce the number of Northern Ireland officers to 7,260 this year and then to 7,070 by next year.

"However more officers will be on the streets, I will not have officers sat behind desks and not have a lot of stations, just some dotted around.

"Stations cost money, to keep, heat and manage. I plan to have more mobile data available so officers can work in their cars and have satellite navigation kind of systems installed so cars can be deployed better.

"What's the point of officers keep having to come back into stations to fill out paper work when they can have their own little office in the car? It's all about managing time and money effectively.

"Another plan is to reduce the amount of paper work given to officers and allow them to have more hands-on powers."

The Chief Constable continued: "Officers work in Ballymoney and have presence but not if they're stuck in the police station.

"There has been a budget allocated for the new police station and work is due to begin around April/May time."

Agreeing Area Commander John Magill explained: "The money has been set aside and the site has been prepared for Ballymoney Police Station.

"The facility will be a modern easy on the eye station and illustrates a long term investment in Ballymoney."