Prestatyn could soon have a new police station

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin has applied to Denbighshire County Council’s planning department, seeking permission for a police base at the new building at Unit 1, Llys Llen, on Nant Hall Road.

Prestatyn’s old police station was at the Bevans building, also on Nant Hall Road, but the police moved to the town’s court building on Victoria Road in the 1960s before operations were transferred to St Asaph Business Park around a decade ago.

Councillors in the town have since campaigned for police to return, and Cllr Hugh Irving said he is delighted the planning application has been submitted.

“I’m extremely pleased. Prestatyn has a big community and is one of the only towns in North Wales without an active police presence,” he said.

“Prestatyn is one of the largest towns in Denbighshire. It is a growing town with a population in excess of 20,000, but there are social problems like anti-social behaviour and shoplifting like anywhere else.”

If the planning application gets permission, the police base will house staff 24 hours a day at the 134-metre site, with up to 16 staff based at the building.

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The base will consist of an office, locker rooms, interview room, reception counter, canteen, toilets, and four car parking spaces.

The new unit is currently vacant as it’s not been used before.

The plans will likely be debated at a future Denbighshire planning committee meeting at the council’s Ruthin County Hall HQ.

Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin said: “I am very pleased to see the proposal for a new police station in Prestatyn being brought forward. This will be an important and welcome development for the town and is the product of a great deal of effort and cooperation between my office, North Wales Police, the Member of Parliament, and the local council – along with the much-valued support of the late Cllr Peter Prendergast.

“We have listened to the local community, who have said clearly how important a police presence is in the town and such a presence also reflects the clear commitment the force and I have to neighbourhood policing. A new police station, like this one proposed in Prestatyn, is a great example of all three of these priorities in action.”

However, voters in the region will head to the polls on May 2 to elect the next Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for North Wales.

Labour incumbent Andy Dunbobbin is among those standing after the former Flintshire councillor was first appointed in May 2021.

The other challengers are Brian Jones, a local councillor from Rhyl, for the Conservatives, former deputy North Wales PCC Ann Griffith for Plaid Cymru and former Liverpool councillor Richard Marbrow for the Liberal Democrats.