In the summer of last year it became apparent that, following the closure of Sunbury Police Station, our Neighbourhood Community Team of Officers would be based at the Council Offices at Knowle Green, Staines. This possibility prompted the Chairman to write to the Chief Constable and a meeting was subsequently arranged between his representative from Force Headquarters, and LOSRA's Chairman and Secretary .

Aware that an officer's 8 hour tour of duty commences at the time of reporting for duty at their designated base, we were very anxious that, without dedicated transport, they would be spending a great deal of their duty time in travelling by public transport to and from Lower Sunbury. The Chief Constable's representative accepted that this was a legitimate concern and assured us that our officers would be based at a suitable location in the Sunbury area. The following points were agreed and minuted at the meeting:

• The front counter [of Sunbury Police station] would be closed, at some stage, saving around £23,000
• Sunbury police station would be used as a base for local officers until an alternative base had been established.
• An alternative base would serve the neighbourhood effectively.
• Knowle Green, being over 6 miles away, was not considered an appropriate base for Sunbury officers, because of the transport cost and time implications.
  
  

It now seems that the Surrey Police Force proposes to disregard the agreement LOSRA reached with the Chief Constable through his representative and instead proposes a base in the Walled Garden, Thames Street. In a sense, this is a sop because, although a police base, officers will still be required to report for duty at Knowle Green in the first instance. In short, this arrangement does nothing to address our original concerns - that officers' 8 hour duty clocks will still start when they report for duty at Knowle Green. There is no direct bus route from the Council Offices to Lower Sunbury and we estimate that travelling time from Knowle Green to Lower Sunbury and return, will take about two and a half hours off the time available to each officer for the policing of our neighbourhood. This scenario represents the best case. With the ever-present risks of traffic congestion at Sunbury Cross and the possibility of officers being diverted by the public whilst in transit, the reality would probably be much worse.

The Chairman is pursuing this matter further and will update this Website as and when the Surrey Force responds to his latest correspondence on the matter. To see letter from Neighbourhood Inspector, click here. To see Chairman's reply, click here.