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Hampstead police ‘could still be sold’
Cops may move into small house next door
POLICE chiefs are being accused of backtracking on promises to keep open Hampstead police station after it emerged that the main red-brick station building in Rosslyn Hill could still be sold – with officers moving into a small house next door to the Victorian station.
Plans discussed by police and campaigners on Tuesday included a scheme to sell the main police building and use the house next door as a “front counter” for safer neighbourhood teams.
The plans are a blow to some campaigners who thought the Grade-II listed building had been saved for police use.
Ed Fordham, who lives in Christchurch Hill, has run a vigorous campaign to keep the station open, said: “It’s a pretty dismal situation. There will no longer be a police station in Hampstead. All the uniformed police will be moved out.”
Others welcomed the decision to retain a police presence in Hampstead – but warned the police to think carefully about the future of the main building.
Nigel Steward, chairman of the Hampstead Safer Neighbourhood panel, said: “We have got them tied in to the site but still have a way to go.
“I think they are taking the easy option rather than a long-term policing decision.
“What we are being given is an office space which might be okay in the short term but they need to retain a much more flexible unit so they have an opportunity to add to what they are considering.”
Tony Hillier, chairman of the Heath and Hampstead Society, added: “I would like to be more convinced than I am that they recognise the long-term needs for policing in Hampstead. This is a site that they should not sell off.”
Yesterday (Wednesday), a police spokesman said no decisions had been made.
He said: “We have asked our property services department to find that best option. If the option of maintaining part of the existing station was possible then in terms of timescales it is unlikely that anything will happen before next year.” |
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