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Greenock Sheriff Court
24/01/2008
Work has got underway this week on a substantial refurbishment of Greenock Sheriff Court to create a new fourth courtroom to accommodate additional business demand.
The investment will mean that accused people can be brought to justice more quickly and provide a more comfortable environment for other people such as witnesses and people involved in non-criminal cases.
New facilities will be created to ensure that vulnerable witnesses such as children do not come into contact with accused criminals.
The £3/4 million (£750,000) project will be carried out by site contractor Morris and Spottiswood and the works are expected to last around 12 weeks.
Eleanor Emberson, chief executive of the Scottish Court Service, said:
"The Scottish Court Service is the guardian of a large number of buildings in Scotland, many of which have particular historical and community interest.
"Greenock is a very busy sheriff court and needed this investment to create another courtroom and to bring it up to the right standard for all our court users."
As part of the refurbishment, a new vulnerable witness facility is being built which provides a direct CCTV link to the court room.
This means vulnerable witnesses, including children, do not have to appear in the courtroom and as the room has its own private entrance, that witnesses will not have to pass through public areas.
Sandy Paul, local witness service co-ordinator, said the new linked room would be a welcome addition at Greenock, making life easier for those vulnerable witnesses called to give evidence.
Following the works, court users will be able to access the courts and the administration offices without having to go around the outside of the building.
Administration offices are moving to the first floor to facilitate this but an accessible reception desk will remain on the ground floor.
A new interview facility for customers will be introduced and access to the existing court 3 will be improved via a main entrance off the foyer.
Janet Blackstock, Sheriff Clerk at Greenock Sheriff Court, welcomed the improvements which she said, 'will result in an enhanced level of service to the community and when completed will avoid inconvenience to victims, witnesses and other court users'.
Further maintenance work on the façade is also being included as the listed façade of the building has been subject to water damage in the last year.
Following completion of this work, Greenock Sheriff Court could enable Greenock Sheriff Court to be able to meet any potential requests to conduct High Court business in the future.