Hope that demise of Wimbledon police station may be reversed

An announcement by the local police chief of a review into the provision of emergency response units across Merton and Wandsworth has raised hopes amongst campaigners that Wimbledon police station could still have a long-term future.

In a statement given to Merton council’s overview and scrutiny commission, Chief Superintendent Sally Benatar said: “The intention set out in our consultation document in 2017 was for Mitcham police station to be the 24/7 front counter location and the response parade site for Merton borough, with Earlsfield police station remaining the response parade site for Wandsworth borough, and with Wimbledon police station to be sold.

“After 11 months experience of working at greater scale across the boroughs, it has been identified that there is a need to review the operational implications of continuing to operate with two separate response parade sites for Merton and Wandsworth, as opposed to having a shared parade site covering both boroughs. This internal review is now taking place.”

While Ms Benatar’s statement did not directly reference the future of Wimbledon police station, Trinity ward Councillor Paul Kohler (pictured left above) – the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Wimbledon believes that the review will provide an opportunity to restate the case for retaining the police station.

He said: “I welcome Chief Superintendent Benatar’s decision to review how police resources are utilised across Merton and Wandsworth.

“I know from personal experience how important Wimbledon police station is to keep our neighbourhoods safe.

“This review will provide an important opportunity to consider more imaginative approaches to the provision of police resources across the two boroughs, and I am confident that it will establish the importance of preserving our police station here in Wimbledon.

“The case for retaining Wimbledon police station is a strong one, as I have stressed repeatedly in my representations to the Mayor of London and local police chiefs.

I strongly urge Chief Superintendent Benatar to re-examine this case as part of her review and guarantee the long-term future of wimbledon police station.”