Police have begun their progressive move to a temporary central Tauranga station at 3rd Avenue.

Police operations are steadily shifting from the Monmouth Street site to the temporary one, with the 3rd Avenue station, street address: 111, open to the public from January 9.



Inspector Mike Clement hopes Tauranga’s temporary central police station street address of ‘111 3rd Avenue’ will make it easy for the public to remember where it is.

The move is to allow the demolition and then reconstruction of the Monmouth Street police station – Tauranga’s main station.

The rebuild is expected to take more than a year with a speculative reopening date given by police of ‘mid-2013’.

The Western Bay of Plenty Police Area Commander, Inspector Mike Clement, says the temporary site on 3rd Avenue will provide the community with all normal services.

“The local community should feel reassured that Tauranga police will be as accessible and available to members of the public as they are today, albeit from a different location for the next 18 months.”

He says the 3rd Avenue site has been refurbished to cater for police requirements, including a public service counter and police cells.

“A significant amount of work has been undertaken to fit-out the relocation site, and apart from a new address, the public shouldn’t notice any difference in our level of service.”

He says the most noticeable change will actually be for staff, with the relocation site already a big improvement on the old station.



The cells at the temporary station.

“The old station in Monmouth Street was opened more than 40 years ago and policing and Tauranga have changed significantly in that time.

“The new station will be purpose-built for modern-day policing, catering for current and future staffing levels, police vehicles and resources, custody facilities, and easy access for members of the community.

“It also means we will have all our central Tauranga groups under one roof, such as community services and prosecutions, rather than split across several locations as we are currently.”

Mike says the new Tauranga station won’t impact on the outlying stations of Papamoa, Te Puke, Greerton, Mount Maunganui and Katikati.

The Tauranga police phone number remains the same: (07) 577 4300, but in an emergency, people should call 111.

Firearms licensing enquiries will continue to be managed at the police’s Durham Street site.

“We appreciate that our temporary location may take some getting used to for some people, but we hope that the ‘111’ street address in 3rd Avenue will be easy to remember.”