Highfields to get cop shop

Original block too prone to flooding

THE Queensland Police Service is scouting Highfields for a suitable block of land on which to build a new police station for the town.

Highfields at the moment is serviced by the Highfields Residential Police Beat which is staffed by two officers.

The growing township to Toowoomba’s north is also serviced by the 24-hour Toowoomba Police Station which is supported by district resources including detectives, road policing staff, a Tactical Crime Squad and crime prevention officers.

Because of the growing population of Highfields, the QPS bought a block of land on Highfields Rd in 2009 with the intention of building a police station there.

However, as a result of new flood modelling after the 2011 floods it appeared that in the rare but possible similar rain event the site could be cut off by road, making that block unsuitable.

The latest modelling undertaken last year also indicated flood mitigation works to protect the site could adversely affect drainage on neighbouring properties.

A spokesman for the Minister for Police and Minister for Corrective Services, Mark Ryan, told The Chronicle that the QPS now intended to sell the existing block of land and put the proceeds towards the purchase of a new site and construction of the new station.

The State Government announced last year that the Highfields community should have its own dedicated police station.

The process of acquiring a new site for that station is now under way.