VIDEO: WARRINGTON’S first new police community base has officially opened at Lymm Youth and Community Centre.
Cheshire’s police and crime commissioner David Keane and acting chief constable Janette McCormick attended at Lymm Youth and Community Centre to officially declare the building open.
The centre is one of 23 community bases in the Warrington local policing area and 122 across Cheshire providing a base for PCSOs to spend more time in the heart of the communities they serve.
Housed in existing buildings, the bases will provide a facility for PCSOs to hold regular surgeries or have confidential discussions with victims, witnesses and other members of the public.
PCSOs will also be able to begin and end their daily shift at their community base to increase the amount of time they have to meet local residents and deal with local issues.
David said: “I am proud that we’ve been able to introduce a police base and PCSO for every community across Cheshire to help re-establish community policing across the county.
“When I was elected I promised the Cheshire residents ‘more feet on the beat’ and this model is helping us put community officers back where they belong.
“Under the previous model, some PCSOs were travelling miles each day to the community they were based in, wasting valuable time that they could be spending in their communities.
“The new bases will help increase police interaction with individual communities, providing a named, recognisable officer and an easily accessible police base for local residents in shared community buildings at no extra cost to the taxpayer.
“I’m extremely grateful that Lymm Youth and Community Centre have been so supportive of the work police are doing in the Lymm area and have let us use the base free of charge.”
The launch event in Warrington is one of four events being held across Cheshire’s four local authority areas over the next few weeks for the new community base model.
The Lymm event was attended by a number of local councillors, including borough councilors Cllr Anna Fradgley and Cllr Kath Buckley and the volunteers who run Lymm Youth and Community Centre.
Steve Griffiths, chair of Lymm Youth and Community Association who run the centre, added: “We are happy to have local police officers using the centre as a community base in what is a hub for the local community.
“Our function is to serve local people and we are happy to continue our very good relationship with Cheshire Police and they’re always welcome to drop in even if there isn’t a scheduled drop-in session.”
Acting chief constable Janette McCormick said: “We are delighted to be able to open these bases at the heart of each community in Cheshire.
“This will bring policing closer to the communities we serve and will mean our community officers are more accessible and local residents are able to directly speak to PCSOs in their areas.
“It will also ensure officers are more visible in the rural areas of the county, as well as the towns and cities, tackling local issues and working with local people on issues of concern to them.
“Furthermore, all of the local areas now have their own Twitter account and ‘Alert’ where local residents can keep updated on issues at the heart of their community or contact their local officers.”
The constabulary is broken up into eight local policing units (LPUs) with the full list of community bases in Warrington LPU below.
Community bases in Warrington local policing unit
Warrington Town Centre – The Gateway
Fairfield and Howley – The Fairfield and Howley Neighbourhood Project
Latchford East – Warrington Town Football Club
Latchford West – St Werburgh’s Community Hub
Bewsey and Whitecross – Whitecross Community & Recreation Centre
Birchwood – Birchwood Library
Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft – Culcheth Library
Poulton South – Fearnhead Cross Youth & Community Centre
Rixton and Woolston – Woolston Neighbourhood Hub
Burtonwood and Winwick – Burtonwood Library
Great Sankey North – Great Sankey Neighbourhood Hub
Great Sankey South – Hood Manor Community Centre
Penketh and Cuerdley – Penketh Community Centre
Westbrook – Your Housing Limited
Whittle Hall – Whittle Hall Community Centre
Appleton – Broomfields Leisure Centre
Hatton, Stretton and Walton – Walton Hall and Gardens
Grappenhall and Thelwall – Thelwall Parish Hall
Stockton Heath – Stockton Heath Police Station
Lymm – Lymm Youth & Community Centre
Orford – Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub
Poplars and Hulme – Greenwood Community Centre
Poulton North – Padgate Campus
To find out more about what is going on in the Warrington policing area or who your local PCSO is, visit www.cheshire.police.uk/local-policing/warrington
