Exmouth to get new cop shop

'Eyesore' police station to be replaced

An ugly East Devon police station is to be redeveloped.

The cop shop in Station Road, a short walk from Exeter Road, was slated for closure in 2015, but still has officers based there.

The magistrates' court next to it shut in the nineties.

Now Devon's police and crime commissioner for Devon Alison Hernandez is planning a modern police station that's fit for the 21st century.

She says significant increases in police officer numbers, and local desire for an Exmouth police station, had prompted her and the chief constable to look again at the issue.
 
“Exmouth is a very significant town in Devon," she said. "Like many other coastal communities in our force area it sees significant rises in population in the summer months and the hard working officers and staff who serve that community need a base that’s fit for 21st century policing,” she said.
 
Part of the existing site will be sold to finance the new station, and the team tasked with designing the new building will ensure that designs include an area for face-to-face contact between the force and the public.
 
In the past two years police stations in Liskeard, Barnstaple and Exeter have been replaced as part of the commissioner’s multi-million-pound modernisation programme, with the majority of contracts going to building firms in Devon and Cornwall.

Ms Hernandez has changed her tune about the need for police stations open to the public. When she closed a number of them several years ago, she said the rationale was that fewer people needed to see officers face-to-face, and phone calls and online enquiries were more efficient.

Now it's back to bricks and mortar. Her office says a pilot project is due to trial the reintroduction of public contact spaces at Tiverton Police Station. Newquay Police Station has also been reopened to the public, more reopenings are due to follow and we the force has extended the opening hours of existing police station front desks.
 
“We know that when people have contact with Devon and Cornwall Police their confidence in policing grows,” she said.
 
“I want to ensure that as we work towards a target of record numbers of police officers across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, that residents have the opportunity to meet and engage with those officers.”
 
The decision to replace the station was taken in consultation with East Devon MP Simon Jupp.
 
Mr Jupp said: “Since being elected in 2019, I have been making the case for investment in Exmouth and a new police station is a huge step forward for the town. The current building is an outdated eyesore and I’d like to thank our Police & Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez, for listening to my concerns and backing plans to improve policing in Exmouth and East Devon.

"A brand new police station will strengthen policing in Exmouth and help to keep our community safe.”
 
Chief superintendent Dan Evans, policing commander for North, East and West Devon said: “This is an exciting project that will see a brand new police station built on the current site on Station Road in Exmouth. Exmouth is a busy town with a population that expands during the Summer months and it is right that we maintain a policing presence near to the town centre and sea front. This will provide a modern base for officers and staff who work in our local community.”