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Community facilities Police | December 05, 2016

New Warracknabeal police station in 2019

The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy MP has congratulated the Yarriambiack police community on securing funding for a new Warracknabeal Police Station.

"A brand new police station to be built by mid-2019 is fabulous news for the Warracknabeal and wider Yarriambiack communities," Ms Kealy said.

"The Warracknabeal station has extremely limited space and a poor layout, which currently places great pressure on local police to manage workflow and operate efficiently.

"Earlier this year I called on the State Government to detail their plans to redevelop police stations across the Lowan electorate and Murtoa was successful in receiving funds to build a new station. It is now great news to hear that funding will be provided to also replace the Warracknabeal Police Station," she said.

According to Victoria's Crime Statistics Agency the Yarriambiack LGA recorded a 43.84 per cent increase in crime between December 2014 and June 2016 – the third highest in the state.

“Our hardworking police officers do an outstanding job with extremely limited resources and are doing their utmost to protect our people, uphold the law and ensure safe communities,” Ms Kealy said.

“It is essential the Labor Government provides suitable premises to give our police the best possible opportunity to tackle the climbing crime rate in regional Victoria.

“Regional Victoria faces a greater challenge to recruit and retain police. Therefore, it is essential that our country stations and officers be provided with quality facilities.

"For the past two years I have been calling for the Labor Government to provide vital infrastructure funding for Police Station upgrades across the electorate.

"While it is wonderful news that the Warracknabeal Police Station will be replaced, the Hamilton and Coleraine stations still need vital funding to replace their outdated facilities and I will continue to call on the State Government to release further funds.

“The Hamilton police station is in dire need of renovation, with the current building significantly restricting the ability of police to manage interactions with the community. The Hamilton holding cells are in an unacceptable condition to hold suspects under arrest for more than a few hours.

“The Coleraine police station is past its use by date and needs replacing to meet service demands and security requirements of a modern station.

“Now that the State Government has received $9.7 billion from the 50-year lease of the Port of Melbourne, Labor has no excuse to not fund our local police infrastructure projects,” she said.