Dear Sir,
It is reported that the Police Station on Central Avenue in Newton Aycliffe is to be demolished and the site sold for an estimated £3 million. There are persistent but unsubstantiated rumours that a retail outlet wants to build on the site.
When the Station was closed in early 2011 an undertaking was given that a new Station would be built on the site. We are told now that a decision has not been made on whether a new Police Station is to be built in or near the town centre.
Meanwhile, the community’s Police Station is now located in the Aycliffe Business Park. It is at the far end of the town and extremely remote from the majority of the people who live here.
This location makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for many members of the community, especially those who do not have private transport, to get to the Station if they wish to raise concerns, seek reassurance about events in their neighbourhood or report a crime.
There is a genuine fear that the present ‘temporary’ Station, located in the Business Park, will become permanent, especially if there is no comment or protest from the community.
Clearly, this would not be in the best interests of the vast majority of the people who live in Aycliffe.
I urge readers to take part in the Survey being carried out by the Great Aycliffe Residents Association (GARA) which wants to find out the wishes of the town’s residents about their Police Station.
The Survey asks one simple question: Do you want a Police Station in a more central location in the town? Yes/No? GARA will submit these findings to the Police Authority.
Whatever our views on this matter, it is incumbent on all of us to make them known to the relevant authority. If we don’t, yet another decision will be made in the interests of the few and not of the many.
Fr Michael Campion
