(Quinte News file photo:)
The Mayor of Centre Hastings says at this point, their council would be strongly against a move to amalgamate OPP detachments in his municipality and Bancroft.
The Ministry of Community Safety is conducting a regional review to “determine if efficiencies and cost savings can be achieved” by combining the detachments.
Mayor Tom Deline tells Quinte News the process is in the early stage, and while council has asked an OPP representative to speak to them at the end of this month, the amalgamation doesn’t make much sense.
The Town of Bancroft has already voiced displeasure with the idea as well, with concerns including increased response times due to the size of the coverage area, local population and a loss of local services like background checks, or accident reporting.
Deline noted similar concerns and says “there’s too big of a difference between Centre Hastings and North Hastings” for the amalgamation to work.
