South Wiltshire police station: High post site the 'first and only option'

That's according to the Police and Commissioner, who was speaking at a special meeting in Salisbury Guildhall last night, held to lay out to the public all the possible options for a new station.

The Halloween meeting was attended by around 100 local residents, and leading the conversation was a panel which consisted of Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police Kier Pritchard, Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson, Acting Chief Constable David Minty, Wiltshire Police and OPCC Chief Finance Officer Clive Barker and Wiltshire Police Superintendent Liz Coles.

The police have been sharing space for the last eight years with Wiltshire Council at its Bourne Hill offices, but PCC Philip Wilkinson said last night that it has become clear that Bourne Hill "is not fit for purpose for an agile, modern police service". 

Philip Wilkinson: “I have looked at Bourne Hill and it was clear to me that despite the best efforts we were not able to deliver the policing service that you wanted. 

“Clearly something had to be done."

Another problem is Bourne Hill is not suitable for residents living close-by.

“We need a dedicated facility”, said Kier Pritchard.

“Bourne Hill has been a good home and served a purpose, but it will not be able to meet future requirements.”

On custody suites (Image: Newsquest)

Other sites considered - but deemed not suitable - included properties on Fugglestone Road, Churchfields Industrial Estate, the Royal Mail sorting office on Fisherton Street, the Milford Trading Estate, and Brown Street. 

Mr Wilkinson said: “When it become obvious that we were not going to be able to achieve a full police station with every function under one roof in the city, when it became clear there is not the property to do that, we had to expand our search”.

The force said its operational requirements were for a sight within five miles of the city centre, with easy access to road network, parking for more than 120 vehicles, and with the ability to make the site secure with fencing/barriers. 

After a "comprehensive review", High Post has been deemed to be the most suitable option. 

It will be explored as a potential option, subject to planning and financial discussions. 

Amid frequent calls for a new Salisbury city centre station, Mr Wilkinson: “We looked at the city centre but the first and only option we have found is at Highpost." 

There is also the issue of cost. The PCC says it would cost £33.416 million for a Highpost site with a custody suite, with an annual running cost of £3.69m.

Whether or not there would be a custody suite at any new station was of particular important to those in attendance. 

But, as the PCC and Kier Pritchard were keen to stress, it is thought that any potential custody suite would be "under-utilised" and not cost effective. Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said the custody cells at the old site on Wilton Road were heavily underused. 

Conclusions (Image: Newsquest)