MPS consults on future of training centre

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) will begin public consultation on a planned regeneration of a site in London aimed at creating a modern new-build facility for training and operational policing services.

The consultation is seeking feedback on proposals for the creation of the new 73-acre Peel Centre Site in North London. As part of this process the first public exhibition will take place between October 4 and 6 at RAF Museum, Hendon.

The plans will include a modern new-build facility for training and operational policing, thereby retaining policing use of the site which was first developed in the 1930s.

Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said: “The Peel Centre is an important part of the Met’s history and these proposals represent the future of the site. Making the most efficient use of our buildings and providing modern facilities for our officers and staff is an important part in making the MPS the best police service. It will help us to fight crime.”

Police use on the site is now expected to be retained with the development of new facilities to provide a modern working environment making best use of new technology and much more efficient use of space. The rest of the site will be opened up to the public creating new homes, jobs, shops and open space, as well as a new primary school, as part of the wider regeneration of the Colindale area. As a result, running costs to the MPS are expected to be approximately halved with money then hoped to be reinvested into operational policing.

The plans follow concerns over the MPS’s £233 million funding gap. Earlier this year, MOPAC said it will bring in independent experts to look at the financial constraints at the force and identify areas where savings can be made.