Full list of police stations to reopen in Hampshire and Isle of Wight thanks to £2m funding
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner spoke to ITV News Meridian's Siri Hampapur about the scheme.
Ten police stations will be reopening to the public across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight over the next 18 months.
The £2m scheme is part of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s commitment to drive up police visibility and make police accessible to the public.
It comes after a decade of cuts to policing saw some towns lose their police station, front counter services and local officers.
The funds have been earmarked in the 2023-24 budget - with plans already underway to deliver before the end of the year.
Four of the new stations have previously been talked about but now the full list of the stations re-opening has been revealed.
West Cowes (new base) - End 2023
Portsmouth Central (reopening) - Spring 2024
Park Gate (reopening) - Spring 2024
Petersfield (new base) - Summer 2024
Totton (reopening) - Autumn 2024
Ryde (reopening) - Autumn 2024
Yateley (reopening) - Autumn 2024
Eastleigh (new base) - Early 2025
Cosham (new base) - Early 2025
Gosport (relocating back) - TBC
The money in the scheme has come from the increase in council tax in April and two years of savings by the PCC - which will go towards buying buildings for the new bases.
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police Federation has welcomed the news but is concerned whether there is enough staff to work at the stations.
It explained that new officers still need to be trained and due to population growth and an increase in demand for policing, the number of officers available is still a long way off what it should be.
Donna Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight said: "This is me delivering on what the people of Hampshire and Isle of Wight have been asking for.
"They want to feel connected to their police service, they want to be able to come in and report crime, they want to see police more on the streets.
"A big part of that is reopening up police stations so that the public can come in and communicate with police officers."
"Austerity and a government spending reduction programme happened but now budgets are going up and now for the last three years the treasury has put the budget up."
Zoë Wakefield Chair of Hampshire Police Federation said: "The cuts were so damaging to policing. We didn't recruit for such a long period of time and we were still losing officers through retirement et cetera... So our numbers were not even standing still.
"It is really positive but it is going to take a long time to get back to the level of numbers and experience that we had before the cuts."
The force was among those to close stations during public sector cuts following the 2009 financial crisis.
It had to save £70m by 2015 - which meant front counters and stations closed and police officers were lost.
The opening times of the new police stations will be determined based on local demand.
This is the latest announcement made by the Commissioner to increase police visibility, alongside the successful recruitment of 650 extra police officers and her commitment to bring back named ‘Local Bobbies’ to every community.
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