Five Warwickshire police stations and the former police headquarters at Leek Wootton are to be sold as part of the force’s plan to reduce spending by £22.9 million by March 2015.
National commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) has been instructed to market the historic Grade II listed former home of Warwickshire Police along with five other police stations in the county, which are surplus to the police authority’s requirements.
Public enquiry desk services and local Safer Neighbourhood teams have been, or will be, relocated and the police authority stresses that policing will not be adversely affected in any area.
The Leek Wootton estate – which was mentioned in the Domesday Book – totals around 55 acres of woodland and includes a variety of buildings, mature woodland and water features in attractive grounds next to the Warwickshire Golf and Country Club. The main house – Woodcote House – was built in 1861 as a family country home. It was used as a convalescent home for injured US servicemen in World War Two, before being purchased by Warwickshire County Council in 1947. It became Warwickshire Police’s headquarters two years later and remained so until February this year.
The additional sites earmarked for disposal by LSH include the 1.37 acre Coleshill Police station site on the A446, together with police stations at Alcester, Henley-in-Arden, Warwick and Wellesbourne.
Jon Hinton of LSH said, “We have been instructed to begin marketing the majority of the portfolio in the coming weeks and we anticipate interest in these prominently located sites to be strong, as they all provide attractive commercial or residential redevelopment opportunities. We hope to agree disposal terms shortly after the Christmas period. However our involvement with the police authority is likely to continue for some time as additional assets are being identified for disposal.”
The Leek Wootton estate will be marketed in the new year, once the police authority has secured outline planning consent for Care Village use, following an application made in September.