The Police Service is to open public consultations on proposals to close Fivemiletown Police Station and to downsize the station at Aughnacloy. Both stations fall within the Dungannon and South Tyrone policing area, and are part of 'F' District which also includes Fermanagh, Omagh and Cookstown.
Speaking after outlining the proposal to members of Dungannon & South Tyrone District Policing Partnership on Monday night last, Chief Superintendent Michael Skuce, the F District Commander stressed that no decisions had been taken.
Over the next few weeks, he intended to consult fully with all interested parties and, in fact, he would be hosting a public meeting in Fivemiletown.
"This is similar to the pattern that proved to be very useful in Fermanagh. There, we were able to have very worthwhile discussions with the local communities, and some very good ideas were floated", he added.
The proposals are part of a review of the police estate in F District. This most recent plan is to close Fivemiletown station and reduce Aughnacloy station in size, with officers patrolling these areas from Clogher and Dungannon stations.
Mr Skuce told Monday night's meeting that the review of the police estate (buildings) was aimed at making the best uses of resources and facilities in the district.
"Traditionally, Northern Ireland had a large number of stations in villages and towns throughout the Province.
"This reflected a time when the population was less mobile and less technologically advanced, and there was a greater need for people to physically go to a station to speak to officers.
"Now, most of our contact with people in the community is by telephone, and they are also better able to travel to stations further from their homes.
"We still, though, have a network of ageing stations that were built 50 or more years ago.
"Over the years, these have been extended and adapted, but we are now at the stage that they have reached the end of their useful lives and are no longer fit for purpose, nor do they meet the requirements for officers, staff or visitors."
"Policing is not about bricks and mortars', he went on. "It is about how we deliver a service that local people need and want. What people tell us time and again is that they want to see police officers out and about in their areas.
"I want to see that too. I believe it can be better achieved by having my officers flexible, rather than tied to the need of guarding stations or opening a station for a few hours a week, waiting on the very few visitors who call at some of them".
He said he had set in place a mechanism for people to give their views and he hoped that all those with an interest in policing in the Dungannon area would avail of them.
Representations can be made by writing to Estates Consultation, Secretariat Office, PSNI Station, 48 Queen Street, Enniskillen, BT74 7JR, or emailing dungannonconsultation@psni.pnn.police.uk or attending the public meeting at Fivemiletown.
The deadline will be 21 July 2008.
Immediate reaction to the closure proposal was led by DUP Peer, Lord Morrow who has strong family links with the Clogher Valley.
He described it as, 'another black day and a retrograde step for policing in Tyrone'.
"It is outrageous. They have just spent millions of pounds on Aughnacloy Station and held it up as a model or flagship station of the future fro a user-friendly approach to policing. It leaves us with only one functioning station in Dungannon. Are they going to tell is in a few years they are going to close it as well?".
Lord Morrow said he would be taking the matter up with the Chief Constable, the Policing Board and the DPP.
Fermanagh-South Tyrone UUP Assembly member, Tom Elliott said that while he wasn't 'overly surprised' the closure as happening, he was wondering if the PSNI were looking at the bigger picture.
"There seems to be continuous cuts and I am wondering where all the cuts will end. Before the Troubles there were less Police and a Police station was maintained in each village".
The chairman of the Dungannon/South Tyrone DPP, Councillor Jim Hamilton, who lives in Aughnacloy, accused the PSNI of having misled his members.
"Some time ago we were promised more Police on the ground and then people started coming to us saying 'we don't see these Police on the ground'. What was happening was, the Police would come in in high visibility vehicles and then drive right out again.
"We had two officers in Fivemiletown, but if there's a call-out they're away. It's lack of consultation, and the fact that some of the local papers knew that the Police were proposing before we were told, though we had an idea".
He regretted that Aughnacloy Station was to be downsized despite the fact it had had thousands of pounds spent on its upgrading.
Mr Hamilton, speaking as a UUP councillor, he said he had always favoured high visibility policing on the streets of Fivemiletown, especially at week-ends. For that reason, the local Station had to be maintained for the sake of the elderly and the vulnerable.
Councillor Frances Barton, who serves on the Council with her husband, Roger said neither of them had any confidence that the closure of Fivemiletown Station would free up more officers to do beat duties.
"We were promised this in areas like Ballygawley and it simply did not happen. The people of Fivemiletown want to see more Police on the ground. It may suit the agenda of the DPP, but there is no appetite among Unionists to see what is effectively a downgrading of security in the area".
Meanwhile, Jim Hamilton has urged the public to engage in the 'closure/downsizing' consultation process which starts on 9th June, and to attend the next DPP meeting in Aughnacloy on 4th June, in Sally's Restaurant (7.30).
