Skip to main content

 

Last month, Police News revisited the considerable list of appalling property issues plaguing Police in early 2024 only to find it has grown even longer. However, Police Association members in Selwyn say a number of their stations are close to being crossed off the “in urgent need of attention” list.


Police has completed extensive work at Lincoln Police Station to repair leaks and fix mould issues identified in the roof and internal walls; property issues at Darfield Police Station are in the process of being remedied, including rotting wooden posts in the foyer; and at Akaroa Police Station privacy decals have been installed on the front door and front-facing windows, and improved security lighting has been installed.

Police staff say the work has had a positive impact. They feel valued now they are working in a safe and healthy environment.

Meanwhile, members say Police is in the planning stages of moving staff from the “sardine-stuffed” Rolleston station into a temporary building at the rear of the current building.

They say it could provide a dedicated training/line-up room, office space for an expanding Youth Aid/family harm team and space dedicated to the processing and storage of exhibits. It also has extra room for body armour systems (BAS), gear bags and tactical options and would ensure the station meets security policy.

A far cry from the conditions described in Police News in February 2024: Despite being built only a decade or so ago, it was bursting at the seams because it “wasn’t future proofed”, one member said. One locker was just a metre from a urinal while others


were in the disabled shower cubicle. Gear bags littered hallways and were stuffed into any space available in the meal room. 

Association president Chris Cahill says when he first visited the Tennyson St station, he was “shocked” at how small it was.

“It is definitely well past being fit for purpose. The sooner they find a permanent solution the better.”

Progress is being made on that front. Members say police leaders in the Canterbury District and Police’s Property Group have been in talks since late last year about a purpose-built emergency services hub in Rolleston.

Selwyn District Council is footing the bill for the project’s feasibility study and would provide the land for the hub which would also house Civil Defence emergency management, Fire and Emergency NZ and Hato Hone St John. 

The emergency services hub would be a long-term solution to support the frontline response in one of the fastest growing areas in Aotearoa.

Staff numbers quickly outgrew Rolleston Police Station even though it’s only about 12 years old. Overcrowding means one locker is just a metre from a urinal while others are in the disabled shower cubicle and gear bags litter hallways and are stuffed into any space available in the meal room. That is all about to change.

Latest News