Lochinvar residents are up in arms after it was announced their local police station would be sold-off.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
NSW Police made the decision to close the station saying it was surplus to the needs of the community.
Resident Pru Scott said she was shocked the decision to close the station and sell-off the property was made without any consultation, explanation or announcement.
She has started a campaign to get answers from NSW Police.
“We need this police station, it is important to the community,” she said.
Mother and Lochinvar resident Cassandra Sellens has joined the campaign to keep the station open.
She said the station and stationed police officers were important to give families security and peace of mind.
“It is about having a police presence,” she said.
“First and foremost they need to look at the growth of the community.
“We need the police here because just their presence helps to stop something happening.”
The Lochinvar Urban Release Area makes provision for an additional 10,000 homes in 10 years.
The residents group believed NSW Police had not taken this growth into account when the decision was made to permanently close the station.
Resident Allan Thomas has fought long and hard for almost 30 years to keep the Lochinvar police station open, including when the state government attempted to shut it down in 2009.
“Even though it has not been fully-manned it still provides a presence in the community,” he said.
“We have three schools and a lot of new development, it is only going to grow.”
Last week Police Minister Troy Grant said the closure was made by the NSW Police Force and not the government.
The Mercury has attempted to get answers from NSW Police in relation to the closure and the sale of the property since October 7, but has had no response.
Previously NSW Police have said that Lochinvar and surrounding areas would continue to be served 24 hours a day, seven days a week by police officers from the Central Hunter Local Area Command.
This means a 10 to 15 minute response times for any emergency assistance to come from the Maitland police station.
All of the residents agreed that since the closure of the Lochinvar station they had not seen police patrol cars in the area, only Highway Patrol doing drink-driving checks.
