The Scottish Police Authority has approved plans to dispose of three police stations following public consultation.
At the SPA Resources Committee held on Wednesday, 13 March, 2024, Balerno in Edinburgh, Seaton in Aberdeen and Carluke in South Lanarkshire were all formally declared as surplus.
Police Scotland announced on 14 December 2023 proposals to close police stations across the country as part of their estate transformation strategy.
Public consultation was launched both at a local level and nationally through an online Engagement Hub, with consultations on individual properties taking place at different times. The consultations on the properties in Balerno, Seaton and Carluke all closed on Sunday, 18 February, 2024.
Balerno, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, has historically been underutilised and has not been used as an operational response station for many years. Officers deploy from Wester Hailes which is less than five miles away and has the nearest public counter.
Carluke was last fully utilised as an operational station three years ago, due to extensive water damage. Local community officers have been deploying from Lanark police station just over five miles away. Lanark is the main response hub for the area and nearest public counter. Officers have continued to effectively serve the area from Lanark with no detriment to the level of policing service delivery to the community of Carluke.
Seaton is leased space within Seaton Primary School. The station was last in operational use in response to the Covid pandemic in 2020/21. Since then, policing services in Aberdeen have been realigned and the property has not been used as an operational station for over two years. Officers previously based at this location relocated to other city stations, such as Tillydrone, which is less than two miles away.
Comments received from the public on all three properties recognised that the stations are not currently used and there was agreement that there is limited use of the buildings as a local safe place. One theme that emerged was the sentiment that local police sites represent policing and infer feelings of safety within the community.
All three properties were considered surplus to requirements by local Divisional Commanders and the SPA Resources committee approved them being declared surplus, with a view to being disposed of.
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson said : “Police Scotland inherited a very large and ageing estate, much of which was not fit for purpose, with high maintenance costs and environmental inefficiencies.
“Although we have rationalised and reduced the number of our properties over the last ten years, in some cases we are still maintaining multiple buildings just a few miles apart.
“Also, with advances in digital technology and our fleet, officers are no longer tied to working from police buildings and much of their time is spent out in communities dealing with calls and helping the public.
“All buildings incur running costs and ongoing repairs and maintenance. Retaining vacant and underutilised buildings, such as these three properties, is not good use of public funds.
“I realise that that for some, the presence of a police building can bring reassurance and confidence to their local area.
“I can assure the public that our officers will continue to be active, visible and accessible in these communities. Disposing of a vacant building does not mean there will be a withdrawl of service to that area.
“Those local communities will continue to receive the same high level of service from our officers.”
The outcomes of the consultations for Seaton, Balerno and Carluke have been published and can be found on the Engagement Hub.
Estate Transformation: Local Area Consultations – Police Scotland – Citizen Space.
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