Police on the move

The most environmentally-sustainable police station in the country could be built in Ollerton.

Residents are being asked for their views on the £5.7m station planned for Sherwood Energy Village.

The plans will be discussed at a meeting of Boughton and Ollerton Tenants and Residents’ Association in the lecture theatre at Dukeries College on February 24 at 6.30pm. The venue was switched from the Town Hall to a larger venue because of the number of people expected to attend.

The local area commander, Inspector Andy Gan, and a representative from the architects, Parsons Brinckerhoff, are expected to attend.

Mr Andy Powell, an architect at Parsons Brinckerhoff, said the plans included making use of natural daylight and ventilation, and rainwater harvesting.

He said they were also looking at ground source heat pumps, which use buried pipes to extract heat from the ground.

Mr Powell said: “Given the opportunity of developing on the energy village, one of the key drivers is to put something there that is very sustainable and won’t look out of place like some of the high street police stations would.”

It is hoped a planning application could be submitted to Newark and Sherwood District Council in May with work starting at the end of the year.

The building, twice as big as the current station on Forest Road, could be ready by the end of next year or the start of 2012.

It will house CID, scenes of crime officers, Tactical Support Group, which is a team of specialist search officers, and roads policing officers.

Sergeant Brendon Hunt, the deputy local area commander for Sherwood, said: “They are spread across the current police station in two separate buildings that are well out-of-date for our needs.

“The new police station will be a tremendous facility for the town.

“The majority of the operational space will be open-plan so discussions can take place and information can be shared more easily. Hopefully, it will improve the operational effectiveness.”

The building is being designed by architects Parsons Brinckerhoff, of Bristol.

Sergeant Hunt said planning meetings were being held every three weeks and officers based at Ollerton were being involved in the design process.

As part of the consultation, shoppers at Ollerton’s Tesco store were being surveyed for their views.

Sergeant Hunt said 24-hour opening appeared to be one of the most important issues for residents.

Sergeant Hunt said they welcomed the public’s views. Anyone with comments can contact him or Inspector Gan, on 0300 300 99 99.