Law, order and blue light
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A new era has dawned for policing in Kirklees after Willmott Dixon completed the district’s flagship new headquarters for West Yorkshire Police which has now opened to serve the public for the first time.
Willmott Dixon's Yorkshire Director Chris Yates joined West Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Sir John Robins QPM DL and Deputy Mayor of West Yorkshire Alison Lowe OBE, for a ceremony to mark the opening of the new building on Halifax Road in Dewsbury.
Procured via the SCAPE Framework, West Yorkshire Police formally took ownership of the new HQ in Spring this year from contractor Willmott Dixon and has been in the process of preparing the station and relocating officers and staff.
Key operational teams are now working from the building, while the remaining officers and staff will transfer in the coming weeks.
The helpdesk at the new Kirklees headquarters is open to the public, while the state-of-the-art custody suite is also fully operational.
The new Kirklees Police headquarters has been built on the site of former Kirklees College and retains the 19th century Oldroyd building from the college site. Itself fully refurbished and modernised, the Victorian building sits at the heart of the new facility.
A new police station for Huddersfield, meanwhile, remains under construction and is scheduled to open later this year.
The Huddersfield station, which is being built on the former Nissan/Fiat site adjacent to Broadway, will be home to the Huddersfield South Patrol and neighbourhood policing teams currently based at Castlegate.
The teams will continue to provide regular NPT policing and respond to emergency incidents in Huddersfield.
Chris Yates, Willmott Dixon’s Yorkshire director, said:
"It has been a pleasure to work in partnership with West Yorkshire Police and our valued local supply chain partners to deliver such an important project which will ensure officers have the modern facilities they need to keep the people of Kirklees safe.
“We’re proud to have restored important site heritage at the centre of the building, as well as the lasting legacy this project has created across the local community, including providing over 1,000 hours of volunteering support to local community projects, and strengthened pathways into employment. It has created multiple apprenticeship opportunities, delivering 942 apprenticeship weeks and providing a further 60 weeks of skills and training opportunities to support the next generation of skilled workers.”
Mark Robinson, Group Chief Executive at SCAPE, said:
"Through the SCAPE Construction framework, we worked in partnership with Willmott Dixon, from the earliest stages of the project, to enable early contractor involvement and feasibility assessments. This approach supported extensive optioneering across multiple sites, and ensured the ideal site and design were selected to deliver the best outcome for the client."
West Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Sir John Robins QPM DL, said:
“Residents in Kirklees deserve first class policing facilities in the heart of their communities. This new police headquarters represents a significant investment in the public service infrastructure of both Dewsbury and the wider district.
“It is well known that the existing police estate in Dewsbury was no longer fit for purpose, and this headquarters has been designed with modern policing needs in mind.
“The station offers the space and facilities to house the officers we need to police communities and to allow our teams to investigate the most serious and sophisticated offending.
“I want to pass on my thanks to all those who have worked so hard to build the new headquarters which be a home for policing in Kirklees for many years to come.”
Alison Lowe OBE is the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime in West Yorkshire. She added:
“This new headquarters is a clear statement of our commitment to Kirklees and its communities. It helps ensure people can access support locally, while enabling a more joined-up approach to policing and prevention.
“Most importantly, it creates a stronger foundation for keeping residents safe and building trust in the long term.”
Chief Superintendent Jim Griffiths of Kirklees District Police, said:
“The site was very carefully chosen and our close work with Willmott Dixon has allowed for the creation a truly impressive new police headquarters.
“Im personally delighted with the final building which provides our officers with up-to-date facilities while preserving the existing 19th century Oldroyd building which was present on site.
“It’s been a wonderful nod to the heritage of Dewsbury and Kirklees in general that we have been able to retain this historic structure and give it new purpose at the heart of the facility.”