A public petition has been launched in a bid to prevent the closure of Solihull Police Station.
The campaign comes in response to planning proposals to demolish the Homer Road building as part of a commercial redevelopment scheme.
Developer Opus Land is seeking to replace the 1960s-built station with a new five-storey office block and a multi-storey car park of the same height.
The contentious proposal first surfaced in 2018, when then Labour West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson agreed to sell off the site as part of broader efforts to save the force £5 million.
Under those plans, neighbourhood policing teams and the public contact office at Homer Road would “co-locate locally”, with Chelmsley Wood Police Station earmarked as the new police team headquarters for the borough, reports Birmingham Live.
Mr Jamieson’s successor, Simon Foster – also a Labour PCC – along with his strategic police and crime board, subsequently gave the green light to the sale of the building in 2023.
Despite sustained public opposition to its closure, the current station is expected to be vacated by 2027. Reform UK Solihull has launched a borough-wide campaign aimed at preserving the station, urging Solihull Council and West Midlands Police to oppose the demolition of the current police station until a fully functioning town centre facility with equivalent public access and policing capabilities is confirmed.
Local residents are being urged to visit SaveSolihullPoliceStation.co.uk where they can add their names to the petition and back the initiative.
Reform UK maintains that Solihull requires a prominent, permanent police presence in the borough’s centre and argues that tearing down the current station without securing appropriate long-term alternatives would deliver the wrong signal during a period when numerous residents harbour concerns regarding crime and anti-social behaviour.
Councillor Samantha Gethen, Leader of the Reform UK Group on Solihull Council, speaking for Reform UK Solihull, said: “Solihull deserves a permanent, visible police station at the heart of our town. Residents should not be expected to accept the loss of a landmark public building without absolute certainty that policing services will be protected for generations to come. People rightly want to see more police on our streets, not fewer visible policing facilities. We are asking residents from across the borough to stand with us by signing our petition and sending a clear message that Solihull’s police station should not disappear without proper guarantees for its replacement.”
Councillor Ian Brown, Reform’s Spokesman on Stronger Communities and Neighbourhood Services, added: “Once public assets like this are lost, they’re rarely replaced. Solihull has grown significantly over recent decades and our policing infrastructure should grow with it, not shrink.
“We recognise that buildings may need modernising, but any redevelopment must begin with the needs of residents and frontline policing, not simply with the value of the land. We urge Solihull Council and West Midlands Police to listen to local people before it’s too late.”
The petition is calling on Solihull Council and West Midlands Police to collaborate in maintaining a permanent, fully operational police station within Solihull town centre before any demolition work begins at the Homer Road site.
Local residents wishing to back the campaign can sign the petition at SaveSolihullPoliceStation.co.uk and submit their comments on the planning application directly to Solihull Council.
To view the plans and submit a comment, search for application PL/2026/01091/PPFL at https://publicaccess.solihull.gov.uk/online-applications..
The closing date for submissions is July 9.
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