Proposed Closure of Police Desk at Pippbrook

Liberal Democrat Councillor Margaret Cooksey has launched a campaign to prevent Surrey Police closing the Police Desk at Pippbrook in Dorking. Announcing her proposal to raise this issue at the next Mole Valley Council meeting, Margaret says:

"In January, Surrey Police announced the closure of the front desk at the Mole Valley offices at Pippbrook in Dorking. The decision was taken without any consultation with Councillors and Council officers. It comes at a time when residents are very concerned about reductions in police patrols and when the Police Council Tax precept is scheduled to rise by £12 per household from April.

"I spoke out against the closure of the desk at the Police and Crime Panel meeting last week but sadly was not supported by the Conservative majority on the Panel, all of whom supported a budget which included this closure and the closure of 4 other Front Desks across the County. Mole Valley is now left without a single point of contact where police staff are available to discuss issues with members of the public on a one-to-one personal basis.

"Since there had been no reaction from the Conservative Administration at Mole Valley I took the view, with the support of my Liberal Democrat colleagues, that the Council should be campaigning to retain this facility, and proposed at the first opportunity, my motion, which I hope will unite the Council and other elected representatives in Mole Valley in a campaign to keep this facility open.

"A few years ago the police station in Dorking was closed and the office moved to the Pippbrook complex with an available police presence; now it has been decreed that this much valued link with the public is to be withdrawn and no-one has been given the opportunity to even comment ahead of that decision. The police service is a public service and residents are being asked year-on-year to pay more to sustain it - they deserve a better deal.

"I hope that the Council will approve my motion next week and that Mole Valley's MP and County Councillors of all parties, will support this campaign. The Front Desk provides a vital link between the members of the public, who pay for the police force, and the Police Service which is becoming more and more remote from the people it exists to serve. It's time for this to change."