New police station for Yeovil
Plans have been approved by Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens to invest £4m on refurbishing the Yeovil police station at Horsey Lane. The current building, put up in 1975 is no longer considered fit for purpose and new plans will be drawn up by the Police and submitted for approval by South Somerset District Council, the local planning authority.
The outline plans will see the current 6 floor building reduced to three, extensive refurbishment inside and new cladding on the outside.
Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens explains they “have explored a number of options for Yeovil…… which has led to the decision today that re-developing the existing size is in the best interests of operational policing and local people.”
It is good news for Yeovil that the Police are planning on staying in the town at a location that is visible to the public. In 2014, the current site on Horsey Lane was earmarked for closure with a new but significantly smaller police base proposed. Now the building work at Horsey Lane if approved will start in summer 2019 with the new refurbished police station opening by the end of 2020. It remains to be seen if the new plans will indeed represent “value for money by making the best use of a site we already own and to provide high quality, fit for purpose accommodation for all of our staff and officers. It will also mean that our police station will remain in a location familiar to the community.”
The new Yeovil police station will feature an open plan design to enable “greater one-team working and collaboration with partners as well as modern working conditions which utilises the IT which has been rolled out to the frontline.”
Arrangements are being made to house a temporary enquiry office on the site during construction so the police station can remain open to local people.