Pictured: The former Warwickshire Police headquarters
building at Leek Wootton
Five Warwickshire police stations and the former police
headquarters at Leek Wootton are to be sold as part of the force's
plan to reduce spending by £22.9 million by March
2015.
National commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton
(LSH) has been instructed to market the historic Grade II listed
former home of Warwickshire Police along with five other police
stations in the county, which are surplus to the police authority's
requirements.
Public enquiry desk services and local Safer Neighbourhood teams
have been, or will be, relocated and the police authority stresses
that policing will not be adversely affected in any area.
The Leek Wootton estate - which was mentioned in the Domesday
Book - totals around 55 acres of woodland and includes a variety of
buildings, mature woodland and water features in attractive grounds
next to the Warwickshire Golf and Country Club. The main house -
Woodcote House - was built in 1861 as a family country home. It was
used as a convalescent home for injured US servicemen in World War
Two, before being purchased by Warwickshire County Council in 1947.
It became Warwickshire Police's headquarters two years later and
remained so until February this year.
The additional sites earmarked for disposal by LSH include the
1.37 acre Coleshill Police station site on the A446, together with
police stations at Alcester, Henley-in-Arden, Warwick and
Wellesbourne.
Jon Hinton of LSH said, "We have been instructed to begin
marketing the majority of the portfolio in the coming weeks and we
anticipate interest in these prominently located sites to be
strong, as they all provide attractive commercial or residential
redevelopment opportunities. We hope to agree disposal terms
shortly after the Christmas period. However our involvement with
the police authority is likely to continue for some time as
additional assets are being identified for disposal."
The Leek Wootton estate will be marketed in the new year, once
the police authority has secured outline planning consent for Care
Village use, following an application made in September.
For more information about Lambert Smith Hampton, please visit
their website here: www.lsh.co.uk