Deputy Premier and Member for Monaro John Barilaro was in Braidwood on Monday morning to formally announce the $1.2 million funding for the Braidwood Police Station, which had been allocated in the 2018/19 State Budget.
Mr Barilaro met with District Commander Paul Condon and QPRC Mayor Tim Overall to discuss the needs and priorities of the area and said it was up to the Police to decide how the money would be best spent.
Commander Condon said that a new building was planned. He said that the Monaro Local Area Command was constantly changing and growing and that while it was growing in the Braidwood district, there was significant growth in the southern Monaro area. Commander Condon said that the snowy area was significantly busier with summer activities and the Snowy Hydro 2.0 activity.
Mr Barilaro added that with the $27 million the NSW Government had funded for cycling trails in the mountains, tourism would be boosted throughout the year.
Commander Condon said that there would be community consultation about the location of the new Braidwood Police Station. Commander Condon explained that the Police already have several different sized designs for police stations to suit different sizes and requirements of communities.
The current Braidwood Police Station is in part of the historic Braidwood courthouse which is owned by the NSW Department of Justice and is part of the Listing of ‘Braidwood & Its Setting’ on the State Heritage Register.
Mr Barilaro said “the announcement is a huge morale boost to local police. Our hard-working police deserve the very best, state of the art facilities.”
Mr Barilaro said, “the NSW Liberal & National Government is proud to support regional police and the communities they serve. That’s why we are committed to redeveloping the police station and providing police with the facilities they need to protect our communities.”
Mr Barilaro said, “police in the Monaro Police District do outstanding work right across the region, as evidenced by the most recent quarterly BOCSAR report (NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research), which shows all 17 major crime categories remained stable in the 24 months to December 2017 across the state”.
Minister for Police Troy Grant said, “the NSW Government is absolutely committed to providing police throughout the state with the support and resources they need to do their job and keep NSW safe and secure”.
The Courthouse building was previously the home of Local Lands Services office and has infrequent visits from Service NSW.
#This story first appeared on RiotACT