The largest town in Devon still doesn’t have a public enquiry office despite Alison Hernandez pledging two years ago that public access was “non negotiable”.

Here is what Alison Hernandez said in August 2023 about the project to sell off part of the old station and redevelop the remainder with costs estimated at £5 million, now increased to £6 million.

“This project makes sense from every angle. Exmouth is Devon’s largest town and sees a huge increase in its population in the summer months. The teams based there, and the community they serve, deserve a station which is fit for the 21st Century, less harmful to the environment and cheaper to run.

“As with other police station building projects, I am insisting that a significant proportion of the public monies that we are investing in this project go to local people so that money benefits the local economy. The release of brownfield development land means additional housing can be provided in the town without greenfield sites being developed.”

She said improving public access to the force was a ‘non negotiable’ part of the project, adding: “When I carried out a public survey to determine which of the 58 possible locations the public would most like to see, a police enquiry office opened once again in Exmouth came eighth. People love the idea that they can walk into a station and talk to a real human being to report crime, receive advice on crime prevention and seek help for victims, so there is no way I am going to miss the opportunity to give this town back its front desk.”

Fast forward to the present.

Exmouth police station rebuild “too expensive”

Alison Stephenson, Local Democracy Reporter www.devonairradio.com 

A new police station in Exmouth is off the cards as estimated costs have risen to £6 million.

Police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez told a police and crime panel on Friday that she would prefer to find “another place” to put the police.

She said: “I’m not happy as it only cost £2 million to build the new Liskeard station and what we would be building in Exmouth is smaller. The costs have gone up dramatically.”

Exmouth and Exeter City police stations were both set to get public enquiry offices (PEOs) this year after Ms Hernandez made it her mission to reopen many across Devon and Cornwall which were closed to cut costs more than ten years ago.

But the panel heard that neither would be happening “at this point”.

Exmouth is dependent on new premises and concern over the public bringing weapons into the city centre building the police share with Exeter City Council has put the brakes on that one.

The commissioner said the city council had refused permission and she understood the challenges of not wanting council staff to be “at risk”. But she added to open an enquiry office somewhere else would mean moving all the policing staff so it wasn’t happening.

More than 90,000 residents accessed PEOs during 2024-25, “a clear sign of the value placed on face-to-face policing”, said the commissioner in her update to panel members.

She has reopened or opened 17 PEOs, bringing the total to 26 with Ivybridge, Liskeard and Tavistock the latest stations to open their doors to the public again.

The ageing police station complex in North Street, Exmouth, includes a disused magistrates court and a mothballed civil defence shelter. Plans were in the pipeline to sell off part of the site for redevelopment and a two-storey police station building built on the rest.

Exmouth is the largest town in Devon and the police station building is occupied by around 60 officers, but the public cannot enter without an appointment.

Answering a question about whether the recently opened police enquiry offices had resulted in a drop off in 101 calls as people could now walk into a police station and report crime, the commissioner said “no” and that 101 was “unrelenting”.

“The more channels you open the more people come,” she said. “Access is increasing for more people to report crime. That is positive because it allows us to understand what is happening in our communities. It is really making a difference to people coming forward and needing a face to face contact rather than one over the phone.”

A performance report to the panel showed that 12.3 per cent of calls to 101 were abandoned in the 12 months to May 2025 due to long waits compared with 37.4 last year. Latest data shows that 88 per cent of 101 calls are answered within ten minutes – the commissioner wants to get to 90 per cent.

The report shows that the public’s opinion of the 101 service has improved, with correspondence down from 42 to 4 in the last financial year and the only person to give feedback during 2025/26 so far was focused on praising the assistance they received.