Parliamentary Committees

Public Works Committee: New Henley Beach Police Station

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:03): I move:

That the 518^th report of the committee, entitled New Henley Beach Police Station, be noted.

This project will see the demolition of the current multibuilding police station at Henley Beach (circa 1962) replaced with a new purpose-built, single building facility that will meet the operational and security needs of a modern police station. The budget is $5.3 million, excluding GST. Currently, if a member of the public wishes to make a statement, they are escorted through the general office area to an interview area. This is both disruptive to staff and has a number of potential security risks. The new facility will provide an interview room adjacent to the public reception, alleviating the need for the public to enter the secure working environment of the general office.

A secure car park will also be constructed, with a breath analysis room adjacent to the rear secure entrance. Again, this avoids the need for the public to enter the general office area. This is a major project for SAPOL: demolition and rebuilding of a police station and the consequent disruption to operations. With the aim of minimal disruptions to both the community and staff, it is aimed to complete the construction within 12 months, commencing in August 2015.

During this period, the patrol base will relocate to the Parks, also part of the Western Adelaide Local Service Area. There should be no impact on the patrol vehicle response times as they are generally already on the road and not at base waiting for a callout. The front of house operations will be provided by a police operation vehicle located adjacent to the Henley Surf Life Saving Club off Henley Square. Many of the public functions will be able to be delivered from here. These temporary arrangements will be published via the media and the police social media networks.

Alternatives to attending a police station to report minor incidents such as minor vehicle crashes will also be publicised. For the record, vehicle accidents with damage under $3,000 can be reported via the internet. The new purpose-built facility will provide a secure working environment for both staff and the public and ensure modern police operations can continue to be delivered for the coming years. Given this, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to the parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (11:06): I will be very brief, and I am very pleased to rise today to speak about a police station that is within my electorate. I remember as a young boy (and that was long time ago now) watching the Henley Beach Police Station being built. We lived almost opposite there—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: There was a big paddock there. It used to be old railway land and, of course, the railway stopped coming down to Henley Beach—but one day we hope it will return, of course. There was a platform and the platform remained, and as a child growing up we had really good fun in that paddock. But notwithstanding that we were all very pleased to see the police station relocate to that location at the corner of Main Street and Military Road.

It has served our community and South Australia very well since that time. It has been a major part of our community but, as you would expect with a building that was built in excess of 50 years ago, it has some shortcomings. I often go over to the police station, for a variety of reasons, and it certainly came, not as a shock but it was a bit off-putting for those people who were visiting the station, for different purposes than for why I was visiting, to not be able to have access to private rooms where they could talk to the police with a level of privacy, and confidentiality of course as well. So I am very pleased to see that this new design is a modern police station that will be as good as any police station in South Australia at the time the construction is completed, and it will offer all the advantages of a new police station.

I am also pleased to report, as was reported by my colleague and friend the member for Elder earlier, that we will still have a presence down in that area through—it is sort of like a caravan but it is more than a caravan, that will house two police officers there on a shift basis and the community will still be able to report anything that they want to the police. I thank the surf lifesaving club for not only making that area available but also providing the power, if you like, to that caravan.

I am also very pleased that it will remain a base station after its completion and, of course, as was also mentioned by the member for Elder, there will not be any delays in any of the responses during construction because most of the time the police who are on patrol are not at that station anyway; they are out doing what it is they do, and that is making our community a safer place than it would otherwise be.

The other thing that was—not sad I guess, but when I visited the station recently I saw the old gaol out the back. All police stations had these types of gaols, and it is used as a storage area now. I can inform the house that I was locked up in that gaol—

An honourable member: You should still be there!

The Hon. P. CAICA: No, no, no—and in those days, and we still have this today, too, there was community policing. We had a sergeant's house there and, of course, the sergeant, at the request of various parents, was not averse to giving someone that might have been a bit naughty a clip behind the ear and then putting them in the lockup for a few minutes and saying, 'This is what might happen if you continue to act that way.'

But, of course, it turned me into the person I am today, I think. Some people might say, 'Well, that's not a good thing,' but it certainly brought to my attention the role of community policing at a very, very early age, and we still do that in various forms, and I am glad the police do that. But having regard to the traumatic experience that occurred with me being locked up in that gaol, I am glad it will not be there at the new station, although there will be facilities to lock people up. Of course, everything I've just said there was a bit of a joke, but I am not misleading the house: I did get locked up, but that was part of that community policing.

To finalise and summarise, I am very pleased, and I note that the tender was out today, or yesterday, for the police station. I look forward to it being constructed, being completed on time and on budget and to it continuing to provide a very good role to the western suburbs and a significant role as part of our comprehensive police operations in this state.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Gardner.