Camden New Journal - News: A fine facade, but is rundown police station worth saving?

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Camden New Journal - by PAUL KEILTHY
Published: 7 February 2008

Borough commander Chief Supt Dominic Clout in the custody suite

A fine facade, but is rundown police station worth saving?

Visitors tour ‘rabbit warren’ building as concern mounts over its future

THE unkempt warren of corridors behind Hampstead police station’s listed facade was opened to public view on Saturday as part of the Met’s increasingly fraught consultation on the future of policing in the borough.
Hampstead and Kentish Town stations face “review” – widely interpreted as closure – under plans which recommend a new central, warehouse-style station built without public access.
Some of the 20 residents who toured the Rosslyn Hill station remained convinced that, despite evidence of decades of neglect, scrapping it was really a cash-saving exercise.
Downshire Hill Residents’ Association chairman Stephen Ainger said: “The thing that got people wound up was when the Met’s asset people said: ‘Isn’t it rundown. Isn’t it a rabbit warren?’ So would our homes be if we hadn’t done anything with them for 30 years.
“We enjoy the fact that a large number of policemen are based at the station and we regret the proposed loss.”
Mr Ainger called on police to adopt the Heath and Hampstead Society’s proposal that the little-known annex to the police station could be used as a base for Hampstead police. The annex – an unlisted addition originally used as accommodation – could be refurbished with cash raised from the sale of the main building, it has been suggested.
Janine Griffis, chairwoman of the community-police liaison group, said of the tour: “People got a good look round the station from top to bottom. Some people were surprised to see the state of the building.
“Everyone understood that the building in its current state was not ideal [but] some people said maybe there are things that could be done to improve it without closure.”
The future of the police stations has given newly-appointed borough commander Chief Superintendent Dominic Clout his biggest headache. He said on Friday: “I am being placed in a more difficult position than some of the other commanders where the AMP [asset management plan] is not of such concern. I’ve been here three weeks and I have to say this issue has dominated those three weeks.”
Pointing out the damage caused by subsidence to the fabric of much of the station, and the Victorian layout of the front counter, Chief Supt Clout said the building was not fit for purpose in its current condition. But his responsibility was to ensure the operational effectiveness of police, for which the location of the Hampstead station remained suitable.
The three-month consultation ends next month.

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