Sutton Coldfield’s new police station opens to serve community

Dear Resident, 

Sutton Coldfield’s newly re-developed police station opened today (Tuesday 22 July), to serve the community for years to come. 

Existing police buildings on the Anchorage Road side of the site, have now been redeveloped with the addition of a former small business property next door. 

This has created a bespoke new location for neighbourhood teams, emergency response officers, local crime investigators, offender management and other policing functions which were dispersed around the site previously.

One of the key developments was the creation of a public contact office where people can talk to us if they prefer face to face over telephone and online options.  

Cash from the sale of the old site – which will also pay for the new station - will be reinvested into policing, safeguarding officer numbers and services at a time when budgets are under continued pressure locally and nationally. The sale of our surplus buildings on the Lichfield Road side of the site provides good value for the public purse and local people. 

The old station cost over of £500,000 each year to run, excluding annual maintenance costs and essential upgrades such as those needed to its 66-year-old heating system as well as critical safety and security systems. 

The decision to close the former station on Lichfield Road was made in March 2018 following careful scrutiny at a public meeting of the Police and Crime Commissioner. 

As part of that decision, a pledge was made to maintain a police presence in the town. 

The re-development was delivered on time and to a tight budget, using local businesses employing local people.  

The old station was largely vacant due the way we work in the 21st century and my commitment to keep officers out on the streets serving their communities. The building was also very expensive to run. 

Instead, we made use of the land and buildings we already had, and thanks to the purchase of an adjoining property, we’ve been able to create good, modern facilities for our officers and a public contact office.

There’s no doubt that the redeveloped footprint is smaller than the old facility but there is no reduction in officer numbers serving the town. It is people with the right skills and equipment which keep people safe, not bricks and expensive empty rooms which cost a fortune to heat and maintain.

The new building benefits from new CCTV, solar panels, electric vehicle charging and LED lights to reduce energy costs.

Some officers had already moved into the new space ahead of the official opening.  

The independent website crimerate.co.uk shows that Sutton Coldfield the safest place in the West Midlands.  

Current priorities for police in the area include reducing business crime, stopping antisocial behaviour and increasing their visibility.  

The Police and Crime Commissioner owns all West Midlands Police buildings. The Chief Constable is responsible for how we use those buildings, to enable police officers to keep people safe. 

The decision to acquire or dispose of sites is made by the PCC, based on operational policing recommendations made by the Chief Constable. The recommendations are fully scrutinised in public meetings with the relevant documents published on the PCC’s website.

You can watch a film of the new station on our YouTube channel.