Police sitting on property gold mine

Auckland Central police station is valued at $19.7 million. Photo / Richard Robinson

The prospect of police stations on the property market will have developers rubbing their hands.

Stations such as Ponsonby (valued at $1.78 million by QV) and Newmarket ($2.19 million) are within minutes of Auckland Central police station but are only open from 8am-4pm on weekdays.

Police documents made public yesterday indicate the force's national property portfolio is being targeted for cost-cutting.

Although no stations have been named, Herald inquiries show the sale of a few could save millions.

Ponsonby station sits at the top of Jervois Rd and would be perfect for designer shops, a cafe and a bar.

The cost-cutting briefing prepared for Police Minister Judith Collins suggested the "rationalisation of housing and station numbers" from the portfolio of 600 properties that includes 380 stations.

The briefing followed the review of departmental spending ordered by the Government.

The police briefing paper suggests tightening both the property portfolio and the size of the vehicle fleet as ways of making the savings the Government wants and warns that the process "has the potential to be extremely disruptive if not carefully managed".

Police would not answer questions yesterday but issued a statement saying that while there might be a "change in our use of buildings", there was no list of buildings scheduled for closure.

Apart from the stations, the police department has almost 220 other buildings such as houses that could be sold off.

Another option for making savings would moving the police out of rented or leased property such as the separate office space in downtown Auckland occupied by the new assistant commissioner for Auckland, Steve Shortland.

Labour Party law and order spokesman Clayton Cosgrove said it was clear the minister was taking the sell-off seriously, as the briefing was in February but is still being worked on seven months later.

"If she really was serious about not making further cuts then she would have acted months ago to tell police the option was unacceptable," he said.

Ms Collins said she had made it clear to the police that any spending cuts should not jeopardise the safety of the public and had received an assurance from Police Commissioner Howard Broad that they would not.

The briefing papers show police have made savings of $14.2 million but are looking for more.

Mr Cosgrove said the possible closure of police stations was concerning given that the Government's cost-cutting had already seen the police move to cut one-tenth of their 3400-strong vehicle fleet.

"What are cops in a rural town that loses its station expected to do when they arrest someone? Chain them up in their backyard?"

PRIME REAL ESTATE (Value according to QV)
* Auckland Central: $19.7m
* Ponsonby: $1.78 million
* Newmarket: $2.19 million
* Paihia: $900,000