Two Waikato police stations could lose staff or close after a review into rural policing in the district.
Waihi Beach is being considered as a patrol base, with its staff transferred to a new headquarters in Paeroa, while Ngaruawahia was also set to lose staff and become a "ghost station".
The area inspectors would move to Huntly -- a possible new headquarters -- and Paeroa, a new headquarters for Eastern Waikato staff.
Ngaruawahia's Delta Tavern bar manager Diane Lloyd was worried to hear about any proposal to cut staffing or the station closing and said it would cause a "big problem for this town".
"Especially when I work here, in the Delta, and there's trouble, [police] are always here pretty quickly."
Eastern Waikato police Inspector Hywel Jones said the goal was to get 24-hour coverage for its rural areas.
Wayne Aberhart, Waikato-Bay of Plenty director of the police association, agreed with new plans for Paeroa, but was dumbfounded by the suggestion to close stations.
It would mean Ngaruawahia residents could no longer talk to a local police officer at the station. Waihi Beach was being turned into a patrol base, "which essentially means those doors will be closed to the public".
Belinda Feek of the New Zealand Herald
