MONEY from the sale of Daylesford's police residence will be used to build an emergency services precinct on
Central Springs Rd.
Metropolitan newspaper reports suggest Victoria Police wants to sell 45 residences across the state to help fund
repairs and upgrades at other premises.
The new Hepburn Shire project will include a new police station, a State Emergency Service facility and an
ambulance station on a vacant site between the Midland Hwy, Central Springs Rd and Mineral Water Drive.
Victoria Police has not confirmed the reports.
If the plan goes ahead, Trentham would suffer a reduced police presence, according to resident sergeant Greg
Falkiner.
Sgt Falkiner said he hadn't received any correspondence from Victoria Police in regards to the matter, but said
it may deter police from wanting to be posted at Trentham in the future.
"It's not always easy to find rentals in towns like Trentham and officers may not always want to buy in the same
town as they work," Sgt Falkiner said.
He said the police residence was a convenience for both police and the public.
"It works well if you're getting cheap rent at the police house and doing a bit of after hours work as well. But if
you had to find your place to live it gets a bit hard to do all the overtime for nothing when people come to your house
in the middle of the night," Sgt Falkiner said.
The State Opposition said plans to sell police homes in Trentham and Daylesford would make it harder to recruit
police to the Hepburn Shire.
Speaking on ABC Radio Liberal MP David Koch said having housing available makes remote postings more
attractive.
"Regrettably this is another example of the Brumby Government's arrogance towards regional Victoria," Mr Koch
said.
"We're not seeing this happening in any of our provincial cities or certainly the metropolitan area, that these sorts
of opportunities for police are being withdrawn in this manner," he said.
Opposition spokesman for police Andrew McIntosh said selling police residences and taking police out of small
towns would leave country residents vulnerable.
"When police live in a community, they participate in the lives of locals, invariably their kids go to the local school
and they participate in local organisations which helps break down barriers and build critical relationships which
assist in fighting crime and keeping communities safe," Mr McIntosh said.
"But more importantly, if an emergency occurs there is an immediate police presence in town," he said.
"The Brumby Government should be, as a priority, replacing police residents and increasing officer numbers in
small towns, not taking resources out of one town and putting them into another.
"As I visit communities throughout Victoria, one of the strongest messages I receive is the lack of frontline police
and the lack of police presence," Mr McIntosh said.
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