In a letter to Theresa Villiers MP, Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe of the Metropolitan Police has confirmed that the Mayor’s plans for the sale of Barnet police station have been paused. All police station disposals in London have been put on hold.
Ms Villiers has fought a long-running campaign to save Barnet police station. Its front desk closed in 2017, following a decision by Mayor Khan, but the building has remained in use by officers. She has repeatedly called on the Mayor and the Met to call off plans to vacate and sell the building in Barnet High Street.
In her latest intervention, she had asked Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to publish the review of the police service Estates Strategy which he promised last year. In previous conversations between Sir Mark and the Barnet MP, he had indicated this review would consider whether the published plans for police station closures had gone too far and needed to be changed.
Responding to the news from Assistant Commissioner Rolfe, Ms Villiers said “It’s a relief to have formal confirmation that plans to sell Barnet police station are on hold. This comes on top of an earlier concession that if the building were to be vacated then an alternative local base would have to be found for police neighbourhood teams.”
“But my campaign will continue until the Mayor of London reverses his decision to close down and sell-off our local police station. Losing these facilities for officers will inevitably have a negative impact on police presence and visibility in the Chipping Barnet constituency. It would mean officers wasting time having to go back and forth from Colindale police station.”
“In every discussion I have had with Met Commissioner Mark Rowley, he has said he wants policing to be rooted in the community. If that is the case, it makes no sense to retreat to a single police station in another part of our borough. Thanks to the 20,000 additional police delivered by Government, the Met now has more uniformed officers than at any time in its history. It needs places to put them. Selling off Barnet police station is short-sighted and wrong and would harm efforts to combat crime.”
In her letter on behalf of Sir Mark, Louisa Rolfe indicated that the new Estates Strategy would be published later this year.
Digital imprint: Theresa Villiers MP of 163 High Street, Barnet, EN5 5SU.
