Campaign to keep Wanstead police station open receives parliamentary backing

Alistair Kleebauer, Senior reporter Wednesday, September 19, 2012
10:35 AM

Concerns about the future of Wanstead police station have been raised in Parliament by MP John Cryer.

The Leyton and Wanstead MP tabled an early day motion on Tuesday opposing a closure of the station in Spratt Hall Road.

The Met Police are reviewing their building stock in order to make savings and the Wanstead station, along with Woodford station in High Road, Woodford Green, and the Chadwell Heath police base, are considered under threat.

Mr Cryer’s motion says closing the station would diminish the police presence and the deterrent against crime in Wanstead.

It notes that: “There has been a permanent police presence in Wanstead for more than 130 years and a petition has attracted more than 1,600 names in only a few days; and calls on the Mayor of London and the Metropolitan Police to halt any closure plan immediately.”

Mr Cryer said: “Burglary is clearly a serious local issue and police teams are based at the station so any closure will increase the fear of crime.”

The future of the station will be debated at a Redbridge Council meeting in Redbridge Town Hall, High Road, tomorrow evening.

Two petitions opposing a closure have collected more than 3,500 signatures in the area.

No decision has yet been made on which buildings will be sold, with the Met due to make recommendations to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), which has the final say.

A police spokesman said: “Wanstead Police Station is an old building that is not fit for modern policing and is currently under-occupied – it is in poor condition and is therefore costly to run and maintain.

“No proposals for this building have been put to MOPAC, but we are reviewing it in light of operational requirements in the borough and across the capital.”

Early day motions are tabled for debate on an unspecified date.