New Tauranga Police Station exciting development for staff and community

Tauranga Police will continue to provide full Police services from a central Tauranga site while a new Tauranga Police Station is built on the existing site in Monmouth Street, Tauranga.

The development of the new Tauranga Police Station was formally announced by the Minister of Police, Hon Judith Collins, at a press conference in Tauranga this afternoon.

The new purpose-built station is expected to be fully operation around mid-2013, with the existing station to be demolished towards the end of this year or early 2012. Construction of the new building will commence shortly afterwards.

During the demolition and construction phase, Tauranga Police will relocate and operate at a purpose-fitted temporary location at 111 Third Avenue, Tauranga City.

Western Bay of Plenty Area Commander, Inspector Mike Clement, says today's announcement is an extremely exciting development for Tauranga – both for staff and for the local community.

"This is a busy Police area and the way we operate has changed significantly even in the past 10 years – let alone since the existing building was first opened more than 40 years ago.

"The new station will be purpose-built for modern-day policing, catering for current and future staffing levels, Police vehicles and resources, custody facilities, and easy access for members of the community.

"It also means that we will have all our central Tauranga groups under one roof, such as Community Services and Prosecutions, rather than split across several locations as we are currently."

He says the new Tauranga Station does not impact on the number of outlying stations in the Western Bay of Plenty Area, such as Papamoa, Te Puke, Tauranga South, Mt Maunganui and Katikati.

Inspector Clement says Tauranga Police will continue to be fully operational during the construction of the new station and will simply be temporarily located at a different site.

"We are committed to maintaining our service levels to Tauranga and the wider Western Bay of Plenty Police Area during this period.

"Obviously the 111 call system doesn't change as that is managed at the Northern Communications Centre in Auckland. It's just that we will be physically located in Third Avenue. The local community should feel reassured that we will be as accessible and available to members of the public as we are today."

Inspector Clement says work is underway on the temporary Third Avenue site at the moment, but some details are still to be finalised, including the timeframe for relocation. At this stage it is likely to be the end of this year or early in 2012.

"We will be undertaking extensive communication and advertising through the local media, brochures, posters and social media before that time to ensure that people are aware of the upcoming changes and the new location should they require Police services."

ENDS

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