Police chief opens new station in town centre

A NEW town centre police station has been unveiled in Harrogate as part of North Yorkshire Police’s move to an £18m state-of-the-art site.

Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell officially opened the new satellite base at Craven Lodge, Victoria Avenue, yesterday, ahead of next month’s move to the new station at Beckwith Knowle, on the outskirts of Harrogate.

The new base on the edge of the town will provide a home for about 200 police officers and staff and replace the current town centre site, built in the 1930s and branded as “Dickensian” and no longer fit for purpose by senior officers.

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The new main station is several miles away from the current base and a 30-minute walk from the town centre. Senior officers had promised residents they would open it alongside the town centre site to maintain a considerable police presence in Harrogate.

“The opening of Craven Lodge is a significant development in our plans to move to our new home on Beckwith Head Road,” Mr Maxwell said. “When we announced our intention to build a new police station we promised local people that we would keep a police presence in the town. I am pleased to say that promise is now a reality.

“Being accessible to the people we serve is the heart of policing and a major priority for us.”

The force has occupied Craven Lodge on a three-year lease, but police chiefs have still left the door open on a proposed deal that could see officers based in Harrogate Borough Council’s proposed new headquarters.

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Meanwhile a new survey to give residents of York the opportunity to express their views on crime and policing was announced yesterday. York University academics have devised the survey with the support of North Yorkshire Police and York Council. People can complete the survey online at www.saferyork.org.uk/public-attitudes-survey.html or at the Community Safety Market in York city centre next week.