Progress made on community safety hub in Ashfield 

The community safety hub in Ashfield could be open by December,according to one of the region’s police inspectors.

The hub is being developed in order to merge the services provided by the police together with Ashfield District Council’s community safety facilities.

The hub was set to be ready by April this year, however developers have faced numerous setbacks on the project. Despite the teething issues, police are now confident the hub will be ready for services to move into by 4th December.

Inspector Glenn Longden said: “There are huge issues because it’s a new way of working. When we first moved in, we found some dead bats in the building, so we had to carry out a survey to see if there were anymore of them. Fortunately, there wasn’t.”

He added: “It’s going to make a huge difference, I can’t wait. It’s the way we need to work now, with the resources that are dwindling, and we’ve just got to be more efficient.” 

Services from the council expected to move into the Ashfield hub include social services, the department for work and pensions, and the environmental health authorities.

Nottinghamshire’s police and Crime Commissioner, Paddy Tipping (shown in the picture) says the hubs which are set to open in Mansfield and Ashfield shortly will provide exciting new prospects for the force in the future: “It helps us save money, but most importantly it co-ordinates activity so we can use all powers to deal with difficult situations.”

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