New Crewe police station costs double to £16.5 million

The cost of Crewe’s new police station near Shavington has rocketed from £8.5 million in 2022 to £16.5 million – and part of that is due to the derailed HS2 project.

Cllr Keith Millar asked police commissioner Dan Price for an update on the new police hub to be built in Basford, during a Cheshire’s police and crime panel meeting.

Cllr Millar said: “The budget for the new police station at Crewe was initially estimated at £8.5 million in 2022 and it was subsequently agreed to raise it in 2023 by £5.7 million.

“I’m concerned estimated decisions back from 2022 have placed challenges on this budget.”

Mr Price said one of the first things he did as commissioner was visit the current Crewe station to be certain improvements could not be made there.

“Crewe is long past its use-by date,” he told the panel, whose role is to scrutinise his work as commissioner.

“We are actually paying for an entire top floor, which no one can access because RAAC is used, and therefore the whole space cannot be considered safe.

“There is asbestos within that building and, on top of that, we have got officers who can’t park on site.”

He said it was in the best interest of the public to carry on with the proposal for a new station – which had been put forward by his predecessor, John Dwyer.

“Yes, it creates extra budget requirements, but I think it’s the right thing,” said the commissioner.

“The alternative would have been further delay.

“We’re seeing inflationary pressures go up, so it would have been further delays, and likely a more expensive build.”

The panel was told the cost of developing the Basford site, including the purchase of the land, is £16.5 million.

The commissioner said construction costs had ‘gone through the roof’ since 2022, the land value was high because of HS2, then HS2 was scrapped ‘but we’re left with land that was bought with a price that reflected that’.

“The learnings for me would be especially on that one,” he said.

“Let us hope that, when government commits to decades long of infrastructure arrangements, it doesn’t one afternoon pull the plug on them and end up with local public bodies holding the lost cost on that.”

He referred to PCCs and local authorities – Cheshire East in particular – losing significant amounts and not being compensated after the Conservative government had scrapped phase two of HS2.

Construction work has now begun on the new Crewe station and is expected to take 15 months, with a further three months for the fit-out of operational equipment.

Mr Price said: “The existing base in the town centre will, of course, remain open to the public until new premises are found in the town centre.

“That new town centre base will also host the public help desk and act as the base for local town centre officers.”

He said the force had been provided with a couple of possible private options from letting agents and had also held talks with Cheshire East Council ‘regarding the possibility of one public estate premise, and the possibility of linking in with NHS, who are developing a new drop in centre in the town centre’.

(Story by Belinda Ryan, local democracy reporter)