Bid to rescue town's police station
A WORKING group has been formed to try and save Chipping Norton's old police station, which is being sold by Thames Valley Police.Members want to save the building, which is over 100 years old and considered a "critical" asset for the town.
Police announced plans last July to sell the town’s Victorian station in London Road and move to a ‘more efficient’ building.
The move is part of a ‘force asset management programme’ which is set to save £829,000 and will also include the sale of police stations in Charlbury and Woodstock.
But Chippy mayor Mike Tysoe fears the town could lose the building if the police sell it off and thinks the force should hand the building, which was built in the late 1800s, over to the community.
Discussing the plans at a town council meeting, he said: "We would like to put a working party together to discuss trying to rescue the police station for the use of the town.
"The museum costs £4,000 for rent so we could immediately transfer that into there. We could move the library, we could even keep some of the police in there. (What lock them up you mean?)
"It's very premature, very outline and very embryonic but if we don't do something we're going to lose it."
Four members agreed to join the working party to discuss their ideas with Thames Valley Police, Oxfordshire County Council and West Oxfordshire District Council along with the town.
"We need to try and save this critical building for the town," added Coun Tysoe. "This could be a pipe dream but it might not be. If you don't have a dream, dreams can't come true."
Last week, police front counter services moved to West Oxfordshire District Council'sGuildhall reception, which now doubles up as a one-stop shop for police and council services.
The opening hours for the revised service are 8.45am to 1pm and 2pm to 4.30pm from Monday to Thursday and 8.45am to 1pm and 2pm until 4pm on Fridays. Cotswold Journal
Ed: The Museum lease paid to Mid Counties Co-Op for the one room above Westgate is £5500 per annum not including rates etc. The council gives towards this a grant of just £2500 to be applied for annually, the remainder is raised by fund raising events by the Chipping Norton Local History Society. "The museum costs £4,000 for rent so we could immediately transfer that into there".Quite who does he think he is? as if he or the council has any say in the Museum business, and where the Mayor gets a figure of £4000 is a mystery? Also you can't abandon a lease at the drop of a hat! Hasn't he or the working group done their sums, if Thames Valley Police cannot afford to run the building how on earth does he expect the Museum or indeed the Library to get the money? The council cannot raise money for town hall repairs let alone another building, OCC doesn't have the money to spend on a Library either, just last month the leader of OCC Ian Huspeth was telling us they had to make savings of £80 million.