Consultation begins to axe police offices
Surplus buildings at Bridge of Allan and Bannockburn
Police Scotland has been given the green light to start a consultation process as part of plans to dispose of their offices in Bannockburn and Bridge of Allan.
They have been granted permission from the Scottish Police Authority to begin a three-month public engagement exercise on 53 properties across the country.
All of the stations have been identified by local police commanders as surplus to requirements.
The office in Bannockburn is among those selected. Currently the property is used by two community police officers and one non-operational officer working on a national portfolio.
Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford has welcomed the move – saying it should result in officers having more time to tackle crime in the community.
He said: “Bannockburn police office has been closed to the public for some time now due to it having rarely been officers who provide a national support function, is also among those earmarked. Police say it is not used for any operational service delivery.
And Clackmannanshire and Dunblane MSP Keith Brown, whose constituency covers Bridge of Allan, confirmed he will join the consultation process.
He said: “The police station in Bridge of Allan was closed to the public in 2014 following a national review of front counter service so it makes sense that Police Scotland should review their requirements for the property.
“I will actively engage with the local community about this proposal and will also feed this into the consultation process.”
The plan is to relocate the operations to Stirling police station and Police Scotland hope to start the consultation in November, before the implementation of the disposal plan gets underway in February, 2018.
The properties were selected following a review of the entire estate, undertaken as part of the Police Scotland Review Strategy which underpins Policing 2026 – their longused. term strategy.
Assistant chief constable Andy Cowie, strategic lead for estates change, said: “The review of the estate was conducted to ensure that it is fit for purpose and reflects the changing nature of policing and can support service delivery to local communities.
“There are a large number of properties currently empty, or soon to become empty.
“However, they still have associated running costs. Such a position does not provide best value or help achieve financial sustainability.”
ACC Cowie added: “In order to ensure that we develop policing models that support the needs of each community, we intend to carry out extensive discussion and engagement with our staff, local communities and partners.
“While we have identified a number of properties across Scotland that we consider are no longer required to provide policing services and we are recommending that these properties be disposed of, no decision will be made on the future of any of our police stations until we have carried out this engagement process.”