A campaign has begun to stop Solihull’s police station from being shut down.
The initiative responds to plans to demolish the Homer Road building as part of a commercial redevelopment project.
Opus Land wants to construct a five-storey office building and a matching multi-storey car park in its place.
The disputed plans first appeared in 2018 when David Jamieson, the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands at that time, agreed to sell the site to help the force save £5 million.
Under those proposals, local policing units and the customer service centre at Homer Road would move together, with Chelmsley Wood identified as the new command location for the borough.
His replacement, Simon Foster, also a Labour PCC, and the strategic board later approved the sale in 2023.
Despite ongoing public resistance to closure, the station is expected to close by 2027. Reform UK Solihull has started a borough-wide effort to save the station, urging Solihull Council and West Midlands Police to reject demolition of the current facility until a fully operational town centre base with equivalent public access and policing capacity is confirmed.
Residents are being asked to visit SaveSolihullPoliceStation.co.uk to sign the petition and support the cause.
Reform UK argues that Solihull needs a prominent, lasting police presence in the town centre and believes demolishing the existing station without securing suitable long-term alternatives would send the wrong message at a time when many residents have concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour.
Councillor Samantha Gethen, Leader of the Reform UK Group on Solihull Council, speaking on behalf of Reform UK Solihull, stated that Solihull deserves a permanent, visible police station at the heart of the town. She said 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. She noted that people rightly want to see more police on streets, not fewer visible policing facilities. She said they are asking residents from across the borough to stand with them by signing the 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, said once public assets like this are lost, they are rarely replaced. He noted that Solihull has grown significantly over recent decades and policing infrastructure should grow with it, not shrink. He recognized that buildings may need modernising, but said any redevelopment must begin with the needs of residents and frontline policing, not simply with the value of the land. He urged Solihull Council and West Midlands Police to listen to local people before it is too late.
The petition is asking Solihull Council and West Midlands Police to work together to keep a permanent, fully operational police station in Solihull town centre before any demolition begins at the Homer Road site.
Residents who want to support the campaign can sign the petition at SaveSolihullPoliceStation.co.uk and submit 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 deadline for submissions is July 9.