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This is all rather encouraging: our fine Mr Mayor, Brian Sinclair, is making all the right noises about finding a future public use for the soon to be vacated Wivenhoe Police Station.

Speaking to the Gazette about the imminent move of PC Mick Bond, PSCO Louise Neville and Sgt Lou Middleton to (probably) Wivenhoe Fire Station, Mayor Sinclair has stated:

“If the police station is to be disposed of, Wivenhoe Town Council will be doing all it can to see if it can purchase it. It sits between the community hall and our offices and it would be a great pity if such a focal point in Wivenhoe was sold for development.”

With the William Loveless Hall built to suit a community that has now clearly outgrown the size of the community hall, many in the town are of the opinion that the opportunity to keep the police station in public use should be seized. Mayor Sinclair is in agreement:

“Wivenhoe is growing and there may be a need in the future to expand the community centre. The most important thing at this stage is to ensure any future expansion of Wivenhoe Town Council facilities is not lost to development.”

Hurrah!

The Town Council currently rents the offices from Colchester Borough Council. Wivenhoe Town Council owns the Loveless Hall. One would hope that a friendly local authority deal to benefit the community, and not private capital, could be arranged.

Wivenhoe police station is penciled in to close in March. Our three officers are expected to move to the fire station, following the pattern of the Tiptree experiment. Drop in sessions at Wivenhoe Library have also been mentioned as a possibility.

Added into the excitement (seriously) is the election of a new Wivenhoe Town Council this May…

No surprises to hear confirmation that Wivenhoe Police Station is to close sometime before March. The Gazette is reporting that the Tiptree experiment of moving the local officers into the fire station was deemed a success, and is now to be rolled out in Wivenhoe, Brightlingsea and West Mersea.

No surprises either that potential money saving is behind the closure of the police stations:

Chief Supt Alison Newcomb, Eastern Division Commander, said: “We need to make extensive savings and are going to do that in a way which means we can maintain the service.”

This doesn’t mean that Wivenhoe will be losing our dedicated officers in Sgt Lou Middleton, PC Mick Bond and PSCO Louise Neville. No confirmation as yet, but the new location for the Wivenhoe team is “thought” to be uptown towards the Fire Station.

The Gazette also raises the suggestion that Wivenhoe Library may take on a new use, with a possible police surgery being held there. With cuts being implemented across most public services, the library would do well to re-invent itself and find an added purpose.

As for the future of the Wivenhoe police station? This probably lies somewhere related to the future of the empty three police houses around the back. With many folk in the town often expressing that Wivenhoe has outgrown the limited space of the William Loveless Hall, the closure provides the perfect opportunity for the Town Council to purchase some extra land.

Ah - but where to find the money? It’s all a bit of a chicken and egg situation, no doubt mirrored throughout Essex with many public buildings about to be laid dormant over the coming months.

Did someone mentions *shhh* @asset_transfer and the The Place Station? The Station Master’s House has already been uploaded as a project asking for support. Finding uses for these public spaces looks like becoming something of a trend as the cuts continue to hit communities.