WILTSHIRE police have tried to calm fears that the new station planned for Trowbridge will endanger lives.
Chief Superintendent Martin Abbott and Inspector Jon Tapper attended a meeting of Trowbridge Town Council on Tuesday, November 10, to give a presentation and answer questions from the public.
At a meeting held the previous week, people living at Yerbury Street, where one entrance to the police station would be placed, had raised several concerns. The entrance would be a secondary one, used for blue light emergencies.
Resident Simon Withers said: "There is an old people's home opposite us and there are rows of cars parked along there.
"There are often ambulances and taxis picking up people from the old people's home and also refuse collectors who block the whole road. Driving a blue light vehicle through there would be inconceivable."
Many Yerbury Street residents were worried about the risk fast response police cars could pose to people, especially children.
Ch Supt Abbott said: "The only reason we would use that access would be if the other access into Polebarn Road was blocked. I don't anticipate it being used at all."
Currently, the old police station, which stands on the same site as the proposed new one, only has an exit into Polebarn Road, so cars responding to 999 calls could not get out if that entrance were blocked.
If planning permission is granted, custodial services will be moved from Trowbridge to the new station being built at Melksham, which Insp Tapper said will result in a decrease, not an increase, in traffic.
People living at Yerbury Street are also worried about the change in the view from their homes and how this may affect property values. One resident claimed a valuation on his home had predicted a £10-15,000 drop in the market price if the construction went ahead.
Architect Aaron Evans defended the design of the building.
He said: "We wanted the building to be a building of the future, rather than a copy of the old building, which would be a poor copy."
The old police station was built in the 1920s and is no longer suitable for modern police purposes. It is cramped, fails to meet the conditions for disabled access and would be difficult and expensive to alter to house modern technology.
Ch Supt Abbott said: "The building we are using was built for police officers to live in. The rooms are still the size of private accommodation. I can no longer ask my officers to work in those conditions."
He said a search in and near Trowbridge had failed to come up with an alternative building.
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