Boris Johnson may have put paid to hopes of any future for Hampstead police station last week – but across the Atlantic residents of an entirely different Hampstead received news that a brand new police station will be built in their town.
Last Thursday, as the Ham&High reported the Mayor of London’s decision to close Hampstead police station, The Eagle-Tribune told quite a different tale.
The daily newspaper, serving residents of Hampstead, in New Hampshire, America, reported that officials from the town in Rockingham County hoped to see a new police station “ready by spring”.
It followed a vote last month from Hampstead residents, which had a population of 8,523 in 2010, in support of proposals to build a taxpayer-funded $1.63million station to replace the town’s current police base.
According to The Eagle-Tribune the new station is estimated to be “three times bigger” than the current one, built in 1948, and equipped with cells, a training room and women’s locker rooms.
It is enough to make campaigners back in London, keen to see the century-old station in Rossyln Hill saved for police use, green with envy.
But Belsize Conservative councillor Jonny Bucknell has not lost all hope and thinks a vote on keeping the police station open – like the poll of residents in New Hampshire - would be a good idea.
“I can understand where Boris is coming from – he has to make savings,” he said. “But I think a referendum for residents would be worthwhile. I hope there is still time to twist Boris’s arm on this.”
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