WORRIED residents have met to fight for the future of Golders Green police station.

Ed Thomas

WORRIED residents have met to fight for the future of Golders Green police station.

Just like Hampstead and Kentish Town police stations, the 92-year-old building on Finchley Road had been branded "not conducive to modern policing requirements" in a Met Asset Management Plan report.

The issue was discussed at a meeting of the Barnet Community and Police Consultative Group on Tuesday night.

London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden Brian Coleman said: "I cannot stress the importance of looking at this plan, which involves the considerable scaling down of Golders Green police station or its possible closure. Combined with the closure of Hampstead in the neighbouring borough, this would be a considerable blow."

The Met wants to centralise police operations in one main base per borough, with smaller offices for Safer Neighbourhoods teams.

In Barnet resources are likely to be moved to the multi-million pound station in Colindale.

A series of public meetings are coming up in Barnet and Camden as part of a public consultation on the controversial police plans.

Golders Green police station is split over various buildings with narrow corridors and small rooms.

It is currently home to the Safer Neighbourhoods teams for Golders Green, Hampstead Garden Suburb and Childs Hill and also provides training facilities.

Barnet's Borough Commander Stephen Kavanagh said he is a fan of the building.

He said: "My interests are with the local people - that's why we are doing this public consultation.

"At the moment, Golders Green does not meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), so it either needs to be made DDA compliant or we need to find out what local people want and get in its place.

"I like Golders Green police station. It is a good building which has a great amount of symbolism. But it has a limited shelf-life.

"What I can assure people is there will be no closing of any facilities until proper replacements are put in place. Golders Green is safe in the short term, until we can make sure an alternative is in place."

People can comment on the Barnet plans at a public meeting in Hendon Town Hall at 7pm on February 5. Meetings will also take place over the future of Hampstead and Kentish Town. Camden Council's community safety scrutiny committee has called an open meeting on January 29.

On February 18 the Ham&High is backing a public meeting at Hampstead Town Hall on Haverstock Hill to discuss the future of stations in the borough.

And on February 21 there will be another meeting to discuss the issue at Ort House in Albert Street in Camden Town.

ed.thomas@hamhigh.co.uk