Conwy's police station could be ‘relocated’ to flat

North Wales Police have assured Conwy’s planning officers that barred windows will be hidden behind stained glass or film.

The Police Station on Lancaster Square, Conwy, has operated as a reduced service for over a decade but maintains a prominent spot in the town centre.

But North Wales Police has applied for a change of use for the space in the Mauriau Building on Rose Hill Street for the new station. The Mauriau Building is council-owned and includes vacant council space and an empty flat.

If planning is agreed, the police will move from the current grade-two listed station a few hundred yards away to the council-owned building, which houses the Tourist Information Centre. Holding cells aren’t visible in the new plans.

North Wales Police project manager Ian Poole promised Conwy County Council’s planning officers that barred windows would be hidden.

“The bars cannot be seen from the outside of the building,” he wrote.

“The windows have film on them so you can’t see inside the room – I think CCBC last had the post office in that room, and you can’t see inside the room from outside. Our proposed bars will sit inside the window and not outside of the building.”

The new police station would house seven full-time staff and includes vehicle parking. The phone outside the current police station will also be moved if the plans get the go-ahead.

Conwy councillor Joan Vaughan is concerned about what might happen to the old police station building.

“I’m very pleased the police will have a presence in Conwy, but to be honest with you, they’ve not been at that police station, a proper police station, in some years,” she said.

“My worry is what is going to happen to the building. That’s a concern, such a prominent building right in the middle of town.”

The police have consulted MS Janet Finch-Saunders, MP Robin Millar, Conwy’s chief executive Iwan Davies, Conwy County councillors and Conwy Town Council about the move.