Mr Grant announced Gunnedah would get its multi-million dollar police station upgrade ahead of the election in March this year.

This will be his first visit back following that election promise.

Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson confirmed yesterday Mr Grant and Commissioner Scipione had decided to tour as many regional police stations as possible.

“Gunnedah is the first port of call,” Mr Anderson said.

“This will give me an excellent opportunity to press him [Mr Grant] about our needs and wants.

“You don’t get much higher than the police minister and the police commissioner.”

Mr Anderson said Mr Grant and Commissioner Scipione were aware this was “not just a goodwill visit”.

“They are aware we want this upgrade as part of our policing plan for the future,” he said.

“I would much rather have them in Gunnedah listening and talking and seeing what we need than trying to do it from the 23rd floor of Macquarie Street [Sydney].”

Mr Anderson said Mr Troy and Commissioner Scipione would be taking a good look at the police station to see what work was needed before having morning tea with local police officers.

He said he would also be bringing up the issue of how Gunnedah’s police would continue to work when upgrade work was progressing, including raising the possibility of using the state government building opposite the police station as a temporary measure.

He said he would be “chewing their ears off” about the high priority of policing in Gunnedah.

Following the Gunnedah visit, the Deputy Premier and police commissioner will visit Tamworth.

The need for a new or significantly upgraded police station became a state election issue after people began to raise their concerns about the crime level in Gunnedah.

A call for 24-hour policing in the area was met with the argument that the police station was not large enough to cater for extra police.

The move to upgrade the police station gained momentum with the support of the Gunnedah Crime Prevention Committee in February.

Oxley Local Area Command Superintendent Clint Pheeney told the Crime Prevention Committee meeting he could not support 24-hour policing which would require an extra 10 officers.

Mr Anderson inspected the station later in February with Gunnedah’s Inspector Paul Johnston, when he stated the only resemblance it had to a police station was that it was “painted blue”.

Inspector Johnson said the current police station dated back to 1963 and had problems including holes in the wall, shifting brickwork, leaks, lack of security, no privacy when interviewing people in both the detectives’ room and other areas, a “sinkhole” under the inspector’s office and no weather protection over the carport.

On his visit to Gunnedah in March, Mr Troy said the major refurbishment would include replacement of the two houses on the site.

“For too long, police and the communities they serve in the bush have had to put up with substandard police infrastructure,” Mr Grant said.

Mr Ayres said the building was 50 years old and in poor condition.

“The refurbishment will modernise the tired old station to improve service delivery to the local community and to meet operational needs now and into the future,” he said.

No figure has yet been released on what will be spent on the project, but it has been rumoured to be about $5 million.

A start date for the work has not been announced.