Police forgot about Pyrmont, community says
BY ROJE ADAIMY
As the ‘For Lease’ signs are put up in the window of the former Pyrmont police station, local residents have expressed their concerned about the lack of police presence in the area.
The station has not been used as a contact point for the public for around four years, instead, the site has housed Highway Patrol officers. But the lease has now expired.
Charles Perry from Pyrmont Progress said that while the community understands the reasoning behind closing the shopfront, he is disappointed that nothing has been done to replace the police officers that used to be stationed there.
“In order to man a station you actually need several people, which is very resource-intensive,” Mr Perry said. “The police argue that it is better to use those resources in mobile activities such as car patrols, foot patrols, and bicycle patrols ‘ the issue is that we don’t see any of that either.”
He said that he has personally not seen any mobile police in the area over the last twelve months.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore has echoed these concerns, having asked both the Minister for Police, David Campbell, and the City Central Police Commander a number of times to maintain the former Police shopfront in Pyrmont, but to no avail.
“I have [also] asked [them] for regular foot and bicycle patrols in Ultimo and Pyrmont,” Ms Moore said.
“The Police Commander told me that this premises had been used for Highway Patrol officers only for more than four years. I understand now that the building lease has expired and is no longer used for police purposes.”
Ms Moore said that Minister Campbell told her last year that NSW Police had investigated better located premises for the City Central Police Station, but NSW Police was unable to find other appropriate premises, given their specific policing needs.
“I was also told City Central Command operates a shopfront in George Street near Town Hall instead, based on the very high level of incidents reported in this location,” she said.
Mr Perry believes that this issue is not just Pyrmont-specific, but “is just symptomatic of a wider police resource issue”.
