CONSTRUCTION on the new Castlemaine Police Station will start shortly, according to a spokeswoman for Police and Emergency Services Minister Kim Wells.
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Member for Bendigo West, Maree Edwards, visited the station yesterday and demanded to know when construction would begin on the new station.
In 2009 the then Labor government allocated $12 million towards the upgrade of the Lyttleton Street building.
The final design was approved by VCAT in March 2012.
Victoria Police capital works manager said directly after last year’s VCAT decision he expected to know what the starting and completion dates would be within a month.
Ms Edwards said the government had “gone missing” in the year since that announcement.
“For one year there has been total silence from the government,” she said.
“The community needs to know the reason for the delay and when it will start.
“If there are no justifiable reasons for the delay, then a start and completion date should be forthcoming as soon as possible.”
The minister’s spokeswoman assured residents construction would start soon.
“Victoria Police have engaged Behmer and Wright to undertake the construction which will be commencing shortly,” she said.
“The upgrade of the Castlemaine Police Station is underpinned by the Coalition Government’s commitment to deploy an extra 1700 police throughout Victoria – the biggest increase in police numbers ever in a single term of government.”
