Uxbridge Gazette

‘Save our station’ HILLINGDON COUNCIL MAKES FURTHER BID TO BUY UXBRIDGE POLICE STATION FOR ITS CONTINUED USE

OFFER WOULD BE FUNDED BY £10 MILLION UNDERSPEND

- By GED CANN Local democracy reporter ged.cann@reachplc.com

HILLINGDON Council has renewed its offer to buy Uxbridge Police Station for its continued use, but it looks like the offer will be turned down again by the Mayor of London.

Meanwhile, the Labour opposition group on the council says the authority should allow police to operate from its Civic Centre instead, and spend the £5 million on public facilities for residents.

The council’s offer was agreed on September 13, and would be funded from a £10m budget underspend.

It follows the Prime Minister’s recent announceme­nt that the government plans to provide an additional 20,000 police officers by 2022.

In a boost to the campaign to reopen the facility members of the committee of the North Uxbridge Residents Associatio­n (NURA) met with Uxbridge MP and PM Mr Johnson on Friday last week. NURA launched an online petition on September 10 calling for the re-opening of the front desk at Uxbridge Police Station.

This is the second time the council has put in a formal bid to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to buy the police station, first making the offer in December 2017 to save it from closure.

Council leader Ray Puddifoot said: “Uxbridge Police Station has not yet been sold, but we understand that this will occur during 2020/21.

“Given that Hillingdon will have additional police officers by that time, we need to ensure they have adequate operationa­l facilities.”

Mr Puddifoot said he was regularly told by residents and businesses that there were not enough police on the streets in Uxbridge.

“Given that the issue of police numbers is being addressed, we have written to the mayor’s office to resubmit our offer to buy the police station to assist with the retention of this operationa­l facility,” he said.

“This is a genuine attempt to help deal with the issue of adequate policing and we urge the mayor of London to proceed quickly with the offer made.”

A spokeswoma­n for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said back in 2017 the decision was made to decline Hillingdon Council’s proposal as it placed significan­t risk and cost too much for the Met Police and Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).

She said: “The council’s contributi­on would end in 2023, passing all future costs and risk beyond that date to MOPAC, which is not sustainabl­e as a result of uncertaint­y of the Government’s ongoing police funding.

“MOPAC and the Met are undertakin­g a review of the Met’s entire estate to look at the long-term plans for police stations and the potential impact from an increase in officer numbers.

“But we are yet to learn how many officers London will get as part of the government’s pledge to fund 20,000 additional officers, and we’re clear that ministers must speed up their role in tackling violent crime – confirming how many more officers it will give the capital so we can keep Londoners safe.”

The spokeswoma­n did not clarify if the proposal would be rejected outright this time.

Hillingdon Labour argued the £5m money could be better spent on the needs of local residents.

Labour councillor Kerri Prince said: “Boris Johnson has pledged 20,000 police officers by 2022, which sounds great until you consider that it is Conservati­ve government­s that cut police numbers by more than 20,000 since 2010.

“And I notice that the cabinet member has left out of the motion the detail on how this will be funded.

“It will require the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to raise council tax.

“I am sure when the time comes, this Conservati­ve council will take a swing at him for doing the very thing that their Prime Minister is making him do in order to fulfil this proposal of 20,000 more police.”

“The motion also doesn’t mention that in his first year as Mayor of London, Boris Johnson cut 455 police officers. What a record he has on policing.”

The NURA petition can be found at northuxbri­dgeresiden­ts.org/

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 ??  ?? Campaigner­s greet Uxbridge MP and Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his visit to the police station on Friday last week
Campaigner­s greet Uxbridge MP and Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his visit to the police station on Friday last week
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