MANY people’s first reaction on hearing of the closure of Wilton Road’s police station will be a great sadness. I understand and share that sentiment.

As the grandson of a former Salisbury police officer, I was moved to see a picture of my grandfather on the wall when I first visited the station in 2010. My grandmother said to me when she heard the news, “it is sad to think that an era is ending but things sometimes have to change”.

Our next reaction must be to think of the exciting future that the building will have as the home of south Wiltshire’s new University Technical College (UTC).

Modern policing means that the force’s needs have changed, and our officers are not best served by a building that is currently half-empty and costing a prohibitive £500,000 a year to maintain.

It is providential that the need for a home for the UTC – a crucial new type of educational provision for Salisbury’s young people - coincides with a need to upgrade the base for policing.

This is not about the police pocketing money from a developer: it is consoling to know that this well-known Salisbury building will be used to its full capacity as a community asset. Wiltshire Council, the police, and our pioneering educators have worked collaboratively and creatively to make a tough but sensible decision, which should deliver an equally good service and avoid wasting money servicing a police HQ that is no longer fit for purpose.

There will inevitably be questions about the speed of delivery of change and details surrounding the interim accommodation of police services.

I will ensure these concerns are addressed, and I have confidence in the determination and ability of lead officers to manage the transition efficiently and sensitively.

Crucially, this change will both save money and protect back office and neighbourhood policing levels. It is also right that Salisbury will continue to have its own centrally-located custody suite, so that our court can continue to fulfil all of the functions for which it was designed, and access to justice through local solicitors will not be compromised.