The Bay and Basin Police Station is expected to be operational within the next 12 months.
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The first sod was turned at the site on Wednesday, May 13 by South Coast MP Shelley Hancock, Assistant Commissioner Peter Barrie and South Coast Police District Commander Superintendent Steve Hegarty, marking the commencement of construction.
The $5 million police station will be located within the retail precinct of Sanctuary Point at 187-189 Kerry Street.
Ms Hancock said she was pleased her 2015 election promise was coming to fruition.
“If I make an election commitment, and this was made before the 2015 election, I’m devastated if I can’t achieve that, so for me this is huge,” she said.
Ms Hancock said she expected the new station to be operational within the next year.
“We should begin very soon, hopefully it will be completed in 12 months but I’m optimistic it might be even earlier than 12 months,” she said.
“It’s a pre-fabricated design, so it’s constructed off site then brought here, it should go up pretty quickly once it’s started.”
While the station will not be operational 24/7, Assistant Commissioner Barrie said the planned nature of policing would be very effective.
“I’m very confident that when people understand the approach taken by Superintendent Hegarty and by the officer in charge, they will get a lot of confidence out of that, not only seeing how it operates, but now seeing the results they’ve had over the last few months since the district went into operation,” he said,
Once built, the new police station will feature:
- A Regional Police Charge Facility with van loading dock, charge dock, charge room facilities and interview room;
- Modern breath analysis and drug testing facility and equipment;
- CCTV and audio visual links (AVL);
- Modern workspaces for taskforces, detectives and visiting traffic and highway patrol; and
- Secure parking for police vehicles.
Assistant Commissioner Barrie said the new state-of-the-art police station would boost the capability of the South Coast Police District.
“We’ve tried to make sure the design is as agile as possible so that we can make sure it’s fit for purpose not only now, but into the future, and really stand the community in good stead moving forward,” he said.
