Village stations get a reprieve but future remains uncertain

While the Policing Board signed off on the 2011 Estates Strategy and recommendations on the disposal of 21 stations across the province, it said the PSNI had committed to “further engagement” on four others (Broughshane, Portglenone, Hillsborough and Dromore).

Speaking on Friday, Board Chair, Brian Rea said the PSNI had “acknowledged community concerns” about their proposed closure and added that the PSNI has “committed to further engagement in transition to a disposal in the current CSR period which ends 1 April 2015”, regarding those four stations.

SDLP Councillor and member of the new Policing and Community Safety Partnership Declan O’Loan said it would be wrong for anyone to claim that Portglenone and Broughshane police stations have been “saved”.

He said: “The PSNI have done no more than to say to the Policing Board that in recognising community concerns about the closures, they will commit to further engagement. I presume that means with local representatives and the wider community. But they are quite clear that any such engagement will be “in transition to a disposal in the current CSR period which ends 1 April 2015”.

Mr O’Loan said he has concerns about the process.

“A prolonged period of uncertainty about the nature of policing provision benefits no one. I have seen no more evidence that these police stations contribute to better policing or community safety,” he said.

“Some sort of muddling through in a context of political wrangling, possibly extending for three years, is no way to deliver an effective policing service for the rural areas around Portglenone and Broughshane. Engagement will be most useful if it concentrates on the best way to deliver service and is conducted through the new Policing and Community Safety Partnership.”

As the news broke, last week, North Antrim DUP MLA Paul Frew praised the rural community of Ballymena and also his DUP colleagues on the Policing Board “for the pressure that was applied in order to remove Broughshane and Portglenone Police Stations from the list of closures”.

And he stressed that the pressure must be maintained to ensure they stay open. He said: “I have no doubt that some within the PSNI would like to see these stations closed, that is why the work In the community must continue and political pressure must be continually applied.

“These stations serve the east and west of this borough and reach out to the most extreme rural areas. I am confident that if the PSNI engage positively with the community then policing in rural Ballymena can be delivered in a much more effective manner than is currently the case.

“I also believe that it is time to have a conversation on more neighbourhood police officers for the rural area of Ballymena and utilising the stations better than is currently the case,” said Mr Frew.

These sentiments were echoed by fellow DUP MLA, David McIlveen who added: “I want to commend the local communities of Portglenone and Broughshane for the articulate and dignified campaign that they have conducted against the closures of their local police stations. Without doubt it has made my fight to save them at board level a lot easier. I was able to make a clear and emphatic case that the retention of these stations was overwhelmingly supported by all members of these communities.

“It is now vital that we move on and make the most of this development. I have long been vocal about the difficulties faced by the growing threat of rural crime and I hope to develop this campaign in the coming weeks and months. We have won the battle to retain community policing in these areas, we now need to keep the momentum of community support and ensure that we all work together for the good of the area.’

Welcoming the Board’s endorsement of the recommendations, Assistant Chief Constable Dave Jones said:

“As part of our agreed plan to deliver these savings, which was previously submitted to the Board, we must deliver a £2.2 million saving in the estate baseline budget in order to protect frontline staff and services,” he said. “I want to reassure the public that any reduction in the police estate does not equate with a reduction in service.”