Today (Sunday 22 January 2012) there was a well attended street meeting outside Acocks Green Police Station to discuss the issues raised in my recent post (see January 17th). This photo was taken immediately after the meeting:

As the Focus Group say in their post on the meeting, it was great to see members of the local community and representatives of the three main political parties, including all of the locally elected representatives attending. While narrow party advantage can sometimes drive the actions of political activists, it is also important to recognise that we often, as in this case, have to put party division to one side and work together for the good of Acocks Green.

In part, the meeting confirmed the points I made in my previous post – in particular that:

• Nothing has yet been decided and there will be wide consultation with the local community before the key decisions are made
• Whatever is done, Acocks Green will retain a Police Station, with the current opening hours, as a base for our Neighbourhood Policing Team
• The money, which has now been allocated, is due to be spent in 2014/15 – so we do have time to influence the Authority

One fact that was new to me was that part of the Police Station used to consist of flats for Police Officers. This throws open an interesting option of re-converting that section of the Station back to flats and sell them, or rent them out, to generate income and reduce the overall cost of the Station. The rest of the Station could then be modernised for police use without the financial burden of the spare space that the building currently has.

Cllr Jones stated that the Authority were keen to look at a more central location in Acocks Green Village – however its clear that no site has yet been identified and I suspect it will be hard to find a suitable site. He also said that the views of the Police Officers serving in the Station would be taken into account when deciding the best way forward, which is encouraging and it will be interesting to hear their views in the coming weeks.

There will be many more meetings on this issue in the weeks to come. I will keep posting on this important issue as the story develops and welcome comments and views from across the community, either on the posts themselves, or direct to my email address – roger@rogerharmer.net