Work should begin in the next few months to replace Tāneatua Police Station, destroyed by fire two years ago.
Police have been keeping the Taneatua community updated on their new station through billboards erected at the site of the old one.
Photo: Charlotte Jones/LDR
Police unveiled the first designs of the new building this week.
It will be a police station like no other; there will no holding cells, no barriers in front of the counter, instead, there will be space for community hui and a cup of tea with police staff.
Area commander Stuart Nightingale said there would be one more meeting with the reference group to finalise the design for the base before building consents would be lodged with the Whakatāne District Council.
“It’s well and truly progressing. The ground will be turned in the first quarter of this year and we’re looking forward to seeing it finished,” he said. “The building has been designed to create an operational area that can be secured but also has space to accommodate community hui or gatherings that have nothing to do with police work.” Police partnered with mana whenua Ngāi Tūhoe and other community members when designing the base and the design shows a building like Tūhoe’s Te Uru Taumatua landmark living building.
Charlotte Jones/LDR
Police have been keeping the Taneatua community updated on their new station through billboards erected at the site of the old one.