Fears over Dunbar, North Berwick and Prestonpans police stations

Police Scotland has already confirmed that 30 police buildings around the country are planned for closure, although it has not been confirmed where those buildings would be located.

But this week, a suggestion was made at a meeting of Dunbar Community Council that the town’s police station, along with those in Prestonpans and North Berwick, could be at risk of closure.

The national picture was discussed at an evidence session at the Criminal Justice Committee in the Scottish Parliament.

'Hard choices'

Part of the evidence noted: “Hard choices are being taken to maintain effective policing within the funding available, including a pause on police staff recruitment other than for some critical or externally funded posts.

“Consequently, some of the things policing does will be done differently or take longer.

“The level of service in relation to some police work will reduce and our performance reporting is beginning to reflect those pressures. Policing continues to respond to increasing and increasingly complex community and individual needs, evidenced by a higher number of contacts into policing.

“Areas which encounter the greatest demand and which carry the greatest risk are being prioritised for resources to ensure policing continues to address harm and protect the vulnerable.

“However, demands on policing continue to rise and, over the last year, we have seen increasing rates in some crime categories and, with reduced capacity and limited investment, a reduction in detection rates.”

'Has to be a presence'

Jacquie Bell, of Dunbar Community Council, told members that she had heard about the possible closures “on the grapevine” and was concerned.

Councillor Norman Hampshire, who represents the town and is the leader of East Lothian Council, stressed that many organisations across the country were struggling financially.

He said: “It is not a secret that Police Scotland are in real financial difficulty with huge savings to find and they are looking to try to reduce costs.

“They are looking at assets they have got within East Lothian and notified us of that. But there has been no decision what building they would like to come out of.

“We have made clear to them we need to have a police presence within each of the communities and somewhere police can be. We don’t want to have to wait until somebody comes from Haddington.

“There has to be a presence where police have a base within each town.

“If they make a decision to remove it, we will be looking for them to take up space within our own buildings within the community.”

'Probably inevitable'

Pippa Swan, the group’s chairwoman, stressed that having police based in the town was important, rather than necessarily having a police station.

She said: “I, personally, recognise that there has to be a pragmatic approach.

“Gone are the days when we had to have a building to accommodate three, four, five people coming and going.

“It is probably inevitable that we will lose the building. Nobody has said anything but if it does go, it would not surprise me.

“What will be important is there being a physical base in Dunbar so that people feel they can contact the police.”

Kenny Miller, chair of North Berwick Community Council, was worried about the implications that the closure would have on the town.

Mr Miller said: “The closure of the police station is a serious concern. It has been at the heart of the town for decades, and the lack of staff there has long been a concern.

“The community centre, for all its merits, is not in obvious public view and is not available at certain times. This can only be bad for the town."

DJ Johnston-Smith, chair of Prestonpans Community Council, was also concerned.

“As the public desk at our local police station has already been closed for a number of years, so long as future police response times are not adversely affected by this closure, the movement of community officers into local community hubs with further regular public engagement initiatives, such as ‘coffee with a cop’, might actually be a positive move for community policing in Prestonpans.

“However, we do have further questions about the potential future use of the police station building and its adjacent car park and we will raise this issue with local ward councillors at a future meeting of the community council.”

There are six police stations in East Lothian, the other three being located in Haddington, Musselburgh and Tranent.

A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council was unable to comment as the local authority is currently in recess.