Derelict police station site a 'magnet' for travellers and squatters

FED-UP residents living near the derelict police station in Christchurch have called for redevelopment plans to get underway after the site was again invaded by travellers and squatters.

They say it has become a “magnet” for people in caravans and tents despite police regularly taking action to move them on.

One man who lives in a close behind the station in Barrack Road, which closed in March 2015, said: “As soon as they get one lot to move on another gang move in.

“That’s just happened now. There are signs all over put up by police stating that everyone squatting here must be out by 10th July. When that day came they did clear out, but just afterwards another lot set up camp and now the police have got to go through it all again. It’s just madness.”

When the A&T visited the site there was a tent with a man’s shoes outside within 30 feet of a notice erected on behalf of the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner, ordering that anyone “occupying the above land illegally” had to leave by 10th July.

In the car park next to the station – which had originally been locked up behind iron gates – there were three caravans and a truck. One of the gates was laying on the ground with no lock visible, although residents said they had been securely locked until recently.

Another local resident living behind the station said they were in despair about the situation. “It’s become a magnet for the homeless and travellers,” they said. “They use the bushes around the site as toilets and leave rubbish everywhere.

“You don’t feel safe walking past it at all. We just want the station redeveloped into something nice. If that happened homeless and travellers wouldn’t be able to set up camp here.

“It would also mean we had something nice to look at instead of this bloody awful eyesore.”

The police station, neighbouring magistrates court and the Pit Site car park are still owned by the police, Dorset Council and BCP Council, and are the subject of a planning application by Aster Homes which wants to develop the site with 130 homes and 34 sheltered flats, along with commercial and community space.

A spokesperson for Aster Group said: “We submitted our planning application back in November 2018, which if approved will see us deliver one of our largest ever land-led schemes on the site of the former magistrates’ court and police station in Bargates, Christchurch.

“We are currently waiting for a decision from the local authority which we hope to receive by the end of year, at which point, we will purchase the site and take full ownership and responsibility for the land.

“If our plans are approved, then we will be pressing on with delivering much-needed affordable homes that meet the local housing demand and cater for a range of needs, whilst putting the land to good use.”