Police hope for October

PAKENHAM police are eagerly awaiting the opening of the town’s new emergency services headquarters, which is expected in October.
The complex will house a 24hour police station, fire station and CFA incident control centre for South Eastern Victoria as well as a new headquarters for the Pakenham SES unit.
Work on the $11 million project is continuing beside the BP service station at the western entrance to the town.
Pakenham Police Senior Sergeant Russell Patten said the facility was expected to open in October.
“It will be great, we will have a lot more room,” he said.
State Police and Emergency Services Minister Tim Holding said when the project was begun last year that it would give police and emergency services personnel the working environment they deserved.
“People in and around Pakenham can rest assured that, after this building is completed, local police and emergency services will be ready for anything,” he said.
The present police and CFA facilities are up to 45 years old and provide no scope for the sort of expansion needed as Pakenham continues to grow.
The SES also operates in cramped, inadequate accommodation.
It is expected the complex will one day house a magistrates’ court as well.