VicPol to create new $36.4 million station in Melbourne’s Bourke St
VICTORIA Police will today unveil plans for a new $36.4m station in central Melbourne, to help respond to incidents such as the Bourke St and Flinders St attacks.
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VICTORIA Police will today unveil plans for a new $36.4m station in central Melbourne, to help respond to incidents such as the Bourke St and Flinders St attacks.
More than 100 officers will next year move from the outdated and cramped Flinders Lane building to the new Melbourne East station on Bourke St.
The 24-hour, seven-day-a-week station will also be large enough to accommodate other units, including Melbourne Bike Patrol and the Family Violence Unit.
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Victoria Police is leasing two premises — a shopfront at 202 Bourke St and two floors next door at 206. The new station will be east of Bourke St Mall and will back on to Lt Bourke St in Chinatown.
Bollards will be placed at the entrance of the station and other security features will be included in the $14 million fit-out. Works will start this month and finish in the middle of next year.
Police Minister Lisa Neville said the upgraded station would better support police in responding to incidents in the CBD such as the Bourke St and Flinders St attacks.
“The new Melbourne East police station will give Victoria Police a bigger, better and more strategic base to respond to incidents and support community safety in and around Melbourne’s bustling CBD,” Ms Neville said.
Melbourne East area commander Inspector Craig Peel said the lease on the Flinders Lane building would end next year and it was no longer fit for purpose after almost two decades.
“We’ve outgrown it and the facilities are outdated,’’ he said.
The new premises will complement the other CBD police station, Melbourne West on Spencer St.
“It will be central to providing a highly visible police presence with a fast response to incidents within the east end of the CBD,’’ Insp Peel said.
No objections were received in response to plans submitted to the City of Melbourne, but council officers urged police to retain the Art Deco-style facade of 202 Bourke St.
Ms Neville said more than 1200 of the latest 3135 Victoria Police recruits have been allocated to police stations.
“We’ve funded thousands of new police, and we’re giving them the infrastructure, equipment and technology they need to protect and serve our community,” she said.