Crieff police station move process comes under fire
The consultation process held in relation to the creation of a new police base in Crieff has been criticised by community councillors.
The comments were made at the volunteer-led group’s first meeting since March 2020 when Covid-19 restrictions were first put in place.
It was held on Monday evening this week at Strathearn Community Campus.
Police Scotland is in the process of closing the existing King Street station and moving to a shared premises in James Square.
The switch is set to be finalised later this month and has been billed as a ‘colocation’ with Perth and Kinross Council, which will also be using the building.
Crieff Community Council chair Harry Thomason informed those gathered that he had been told the new police office would not be accessible to members of the public and it would not be possible to use it for things such as handing in lost property found in the street.
This is similar to the situation at the moment as the public counter at the current Strath capital law enforcement hub was closed to the public in February, 2014, following a previous Police Scotland review.
Mr Thomason also said he had been told parking for officers would be available at the back of the nearby Square Bar and Kitchen.
Fellow community councillor John Gauld said he felt this meant the new base would effectively be “a cloakroom for them to have a cup of tea and get changed in”, adding that Police Scotland “may as well have a lock-up garage”.
Councillor Rhona Brock, an independent elected member for the Strathearn ward on Perth and Kinross Council, said the yellow telephone currently used by people to communicate with the police outside the King Street station is to be moved to outside the new shared office.
Community councillor Douglas Watters said it was his understanding Police Scotland intended to provide the same service in the town following the move as it does currently – something which has been stated previously by the likes of Inspector Craig Stephen.
Mr Gauld lamented the centralisation of the police service generally and went on to say that he felt the consultation process in the lead-up to the decision being made wasn’t sufficient.
He said: “They want to sell off the estate and centralise it. You can only do that
once.
“We need to find out what the policing provision will be for the people of Crieff and what the arrangements will be, particularly when it comes to community policing.
“The consultation process had the longest email address I have ever seen. I think it was to put people off, so you’d get people typing it out, maybe making a mistake and going ‘oh, I’ll not bother then’.”
Mr Watters said he “got the impression
it was a fait accompli.”
The community council made a submission as part of the consultation, which concluded in September last year.
Mr Thomason said attempts had been made to either meet or contact senior officers to discuss the situation, more than one of whom had been moved elsewhere within the force after relatively brief stints overseeing Crieff.
After the meeting, Chief Inspector Graham Binnie told the Herald: “Police Scotland consulted with the community and the local council ahead of the decision to change the location of Crieff Police Station.
“Co- locating alongside key public service partners in shared facilities is part of Police Scotland’s long-term estates strategy. This will enable us to enhance service delivery through increased multiagency collaboration, while reducing our carbon footprint and the long-term costs of maintaining old police buildings.
“There will be no change to the existing policing service provision within Crieff and our staff are looking forward to moving into the new office and working more closely with partners from Perth and Kinross Council.
“It is common practice to have a phone available for members of the public to be able to contact the police 24/7 at offices where we do not have full- time front counter provision. This has already been the case at Crieff for some time.”
In relation to the consultation email address, Chief Inspector Binnie added: “Email addresses are generated to be relevant to their purpose and this one was already regularly used in communication with elected members and community councils so was not new to them.
“It would be inaccurate to say we were trying to put off the community from contacting us.”