Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis has appointed agents to sell the former police headquarters site as he strives to get the best deal for Staffordshire tax-payers.
Mr Ellis says getting better value for money is key to maintaining frontline policing in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
Dealing with issues such as the sale of the former police headquarters’ site – which has lain empty since 2010 costing nearly £3 million in rates, security and interest costs – are crucial to releasing money into local policing.
The old HQ site in Baswich, Stafford, was vacated following the decision by the Police Authority to buy new HQ buildings in Weston Road, Stafford. The PCC replaced the Police Authority in November 2012 and more than halved the previous bill of almost £1 million a year for the empty site by levelling it in 2013.
He has now appointed independent Midlands’s property advisor GVA to take the sale forward and dispose of the site.
Mr Ellis said: “I inherited an immensely complex situation which had not moved forward overall several years.
“I am frustrated at the amount of money spent on maintaining an empty site which could’ve instead gone into frontline policing in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
“My decision to demolish the site instantly saved almost half a million pounds a year in tax-payers’ money and I’m determined to pay down the overall debt and release more money into local policing.
“We’ve now appointed GVA to take this forward so that very soon we should be in the position to advance the sale of the site and put millions of pounds back into policing resources.”
Andrew Moss, Director at GVA, said: “The former police headquarters building is a prime site in a high quality location and we are naturally exceedingly pleased to have been appointed to advance the sale of this valuable asset.”
Outline planning consent is already in place and work is now underway to understand what development will reflect the high-quality nature and position of the site for Stafford.
