Ground Breaking Ceremonies Take Place For New Police Buildings

Monday, 30th July, 2012

Work has officially begun on three new buildings for West Yorkshire Police in Wakefield and Leeds after ground breaking ceremonies took place last week.

The two new divisional headquarters for City and Holbeck and Wakefield divisions will be located at Elland Road in Leeds and Havertop Lane in Normanton, Wakefield and the third facility will be the new Specialist Operational training centre at Carrgate, where the Operational Support Division is based.

The new buildings will provide a modern, flexible working environment as well as enabling Officers to train for real life situations with more realism than before. All three sites will have a community facility in order to connect them to the communities they serve.

The ground breaking ceremonies for the three sites took place on Friday, 27th July and were attended by Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison, other senior Police Officers, Councillor Mark Burns-Williamson OBE Chair of the West Yorkshire Police Authority, and Vice Chair Councillor Les Carter.

A consortium led by Interserve, the international support services and construction group, and Equitix, the infrastructure investor and developer, will design, build, finance and service the three Facilities. Funding will be provided by Aviva Public Private Finance Limited

Planning permission has been secured for all three sites, and the first facility will come into use in December 2013. The consortium will then be responsible for the delivery of services (including cleaning, maintenance and energy management) once the buildings are completed.

Sir Norman Bettison, Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, said: "We are pleased that work has officially begun on these new facilities. It will put West Yorkshire Police at the forefront of modern policing and enable the Force to provide the best possible service to the communities of West Yorkshire."

The Chair of West Yorkshire Police Authority, Councillor Mark Burns-Williamson, said: "The Police Authority is very pleased to support this investment and long term vision for policing in the county. I hope the new buildings when completed will have a positive impact on the local economy with jobs being made available to local people throughout the building and operating period.

‪"It was fantastic to see members of the public at each groundbreaking event who have formed part of the important consultation process and reflects our commitment to making sure policing remains rooted within the heart of local communities with the very best of facilities for years to come."

Interserve Building Managing Director, Ian Renhard, said: "As work gets underway on these three sites, we look forward to delivering first-class facilities for West Yorkshire Police and realising our commitment to bring long-term economic benefits to the wider community."

West Yorkshire Police have been supported by the following consultants in the delivery of this project:

Ernst & Young (financial advice)

Pinsent Masons (legal advice)

Willis (insurance advice)

Mott MacDonald (technical advice)

G7 Safety Management Services (ballistic safety, construction and licensing consultancy)