mmg.com.au

Echuca Police and Campaspe Shire representatives gathered on Wednesday outside the site of where the new Echuca police station will be.

Member for Rodney Paul Weller made the official announcement that the land had been purchased by the Victorian Government for a new police station.

A 4000sqm piece of land at the corner of Anstruther and Sturt streets was chosen as the location.

Mr Weller said he would immediately step up his lobbying efforts to secure the funding for the building itself.

He said would first seek funding for the planning and design phase, which would help formulate an idea of how much the building would cost.

Mr Weller said the planning and development stage could take up to a year to complete.

He said he would be in Police Minister Peter Ryan’s office next week to talk about planning funding.

Campaspe police Inspector Martin Dorman also addressed the small crowd and thanked Mr Weller for his lobbying efforts.

Insp. Dorman said the site was well-positioned because it was close to the river, the CBD, the Campaspe Shire offices and the court house.

He said it would be clearly sign-posted from Sturt St and would be clearly visible from the roundabout before the bridge.

He said it would also be less congested, as the current location of the police station could become grid-locked in peak periods.

Insp. Dorman said planning would involve the heads of each of the policing departments—highway patrol, general duties and CIU— and an OHS representative and planners from Victoria Police head office coming up with a design together.

He hoped to cater for the possibility of a sexual offences and child abuse unit.

Insp. Dorman said because Echuca-Moama was a tourist town the building would need to consider police expansion for events such as the Southern 80.

The current police station was built in 1969 and houses 53 local officers.

The funding for the purchase of the site was provided in the 2010-11 state Budget, which allowed $4.3million.

The site is residential zone 1, while the other side of the road is urban flood zone.