Letter published in the South Shropshire Journal
1 March 2013
It seems that Ludlow’s almost new police station is to close and the police are to move into offices elsewhere in the town.
We should view this proposal with caution. We need a police station close to the town centre where the majority of crime and antisocial behaviour occurs.
But there are few buildings in our historic town centre that could host a police station. The constant arrival and departure of police cars would also be very disruptive for shoppers during the day and residents at night.
There are few obvious buildings in the rest of the town. There is a danger that the new station will be out on the Eco Park, much as Leominster’s station is way out of town on the Enterprise Park.
An out of town station will be hard for people to visit and will delay response time to disturbances. We would be likely to see even fewer police walking through the streets.
The crime rate in the town is already above the average for West Mercia. We need to ensure that we have continue to have a strong and effective policing presence in the town centre.
Andy Boddington
Ludlow
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