Govt drops Rooke police station project, explores ‘refurbishing and expanding’ New Mole House instead

The Gibraltar Government has dropped plans to build a new police station on the Rooke site and is instead considering refurbishing and extending New Mole House, the Gibraltar Parliament was told on Friday, in a move described by the Opposition as “a massive U-turn”.

The issue was raised by GSD MP Joelle Ladislaus in a question seeking an update on the progress of the Rooke project, which had been a GSLP/Liberal manifesto commitment.

“The Government is looking at new plans for the refurbishment and extension of the existing police station at New Mole House,” said Justice Minister Nigel Feetham.

“A series of concept designs have been produced and the project is progressing to the technical survey stage.”

Ms Ladislaus noted that the GSLP/Liberal manifesto at the last general election stated plans for new stations at Rooke for both the Royal Gibraltar Police and the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service had been “agreed and signed off”.

“What has happened now for the U-turn to occur?” she asked, adding the RGP had “practically outgrown” New Mole House, which was in a “rather dilapidated” state.

Mr Feetham replied that there had been “technical problems” in locating the police station at the Rooke site and that “as a result of those limitations” the decision was taken to refurbish and extend New Mole House.

Pressed for more detail on those limitations, Dr Joseph Garcia, the Deputy Chief Minister who has ministerial oversight of Government projects, intervened and explained the issues related to the height of the proposed building and its proximity to the city walls.

At five or six stories high, “…it was felt subsequently, on reflection and considering the designs, that this was too large a structure to place at that particular location, so the decision was taken to refurbish and restore the New Mole House,” Dr Garcia said, adding technical surveys were underway to establish whether that is possible.

Opposition MP Roy Clinton asked Dr Garcia why the Government objected to a five-storey development on the Rooke site given that the Midtown buildings were taller and closer to the city walls.

Mr Clinton urged Dr Garcia to acknowledge that “the technical problem” leading to a change of plan regarding the location of the new police station “is in fact a financial one”.

“The Midtown development was not given planning permission in our time,” Dr Garcia replied.

“This was a development that preceded our time in office and we took the view in Cabinet that we did not want a high building right next to the King's Bastion and that it was better to have an open space in that particular corner of the plot, which is the way that we would like to see things developing.”

“So it's a policy decision. They may agree with the policy decision, they may not agree with it, but that is what it was, a policy decision.”

Opposition MP Damon Bossino then joined in the exchange and said the Government must have known how tall the police building on Rooke would be when it signalled in its electoral manifesto that plans had been signed off.

Mr Bossino said the change amounted to “a massive U-turn”, adding: “Can't he simply say that ‘we changed our mind’? The policy is now in effect a U-turn from the position as it was set out in the 2023 manifesto.”

Dr Garcia replied: “The Government can say exactly what it is saying, and that is to say that we took a policy decision based on the information available at the time.”

“And the information available at the time was that, because of the growth in the number of officers and the need to provide certain facilities, the building suddenly grew from what was originally intended.”

“And because of that, we found a better solution, which was to move it somewhere else.”