Page 62 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 14 February 2012
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Belconnen police station to the Chief Police Officer, Mr Quaedvlieg. ACT Policing have successfully completed the transition from the old Belconnen police station to the new station. That occurred on 31 January this year. The new Belconnen police station is now fully operational.
The new police station provides the Belconnen community and ACT Policing with a state-of-the-art facility, one that will serve the territory and the community well into the future. It is a 2,800 square metre facility, housing more than 100 police officers and other staff, and it features facilities such as a public access foyer and counter, five holding cells, incident rooms, welfare counselling rooms, an area for victims of crime, a muster room and a breath analysis area. The construction of this facility honours the government’s commitment to establish an energy efficient building for the future as well as a state-of-the-art police station for our hardworking police officers.
In keeping with the government’s commitment to reduce energy use in government facilities, a number of new and innovative features have been placed into the new station. These include a chilled beam system which controls heating and cooling, responding to the 24/7 operations of the facility and achieving good value for money when it comes to the operational costs of the building. The chilled beam system operates on moving air around the entire building, thereby creating a more controllable and pleasant environment.
Natural light is utilised through the building and sunshades are visible to the east and south elevations of the new station. Harvested rainwater is piped into underground tanks situated under the new car park area and can hold approximately 100,000 litres, providing water for facility hydraulics, landscape watering and carwash activities. Solar hot water panels—six of them—are situated on the outbuilding of the complex, providing backup solar hot water.
This is a very pleasing development, both in terms of delivering a building which meets the operational needs of ACT Policing into the future, providing the community with a new, modern facility in which to interact with their police should they need to report a matter and, finally, a building that delivers a great environmental outcome.
In fact, it would be remiss of me not to mention that the building is also contributing to the local biodiversity in the Belconnen area. Members would be aware that a number of blue-tongue lizards that previously lived at the old Belconnen police station and had become favoured mascots of the Belconnen team have been relocated across to the new courtyard of the new building where they are also enjoying the new facilities on offer.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Hargreaves, a supplementary question.
MR HARGREAVES: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Apart from the need to relocate blue-tongue lizards and provide a source of amusement for Mr Coe, why was it important to invest this money in a new police station in Belconnen in the first place?
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