Neil O’Brien, MP for Harborough Oadby and Wigston, has written to Planning Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and also to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, calling for controversial plans for a new prison at Gartree to be dropped.
In the letter Neil wrote:
“At present no work has been started on the site of the new proposed jail, so there is still time to avoid getting locked into a location which everyone will come to regret for years to come. Nothing has yet been built or prepared on site.
The proposed new prison at Gartree is a national institution and could be put in any location in England.
The Ministry of Justice’s own analysis stresses the importance for rehabilitation of prisoners receiving visits. But this proposed site would make that impossible for many, as it has almost no public transport access, so any visitors that did try to come would face a lengthy walk down a country road with no pavement.
The Treasury’s own principles for investment in the Green Book emphasise the importance of thinking about the benefits to the wider area when the government chooses the location for a large investment. The government’s own methodology suggests the economic and social benefits from the creation of new jobs would be far larger if they are created in areas where employment is lower and the need for investment is higher. But this proposed site would see the investment and jobs placed in an expensive area with very high employment rates.
The new prison could be placed on any brownfield site in the country – but this proposed site is a greenfield site on an expensive plot of land.
The prison was rejected by the local council and by the planning inspector. I am not at all against the building of new prisons. But this is a poor choice of site. You still have ample time to rethink this and to put this prison on a more suitable site, which will work better for both prisoners and the wider community.”
