Warrington Residents Against Prison Proposal

As you may know, we were in Warrington Town Centre this Saturday outside the Skittles with our Street Stall.  We received an overwhelming response from shoppers, passers-by and residents, which gave people the chance to stop and discuss the issue, and voice their concerns with us as well as giving us their support.

In excess of 4,000 leaflets were handed out asking residents to email Jack Straw and MP’s Helen Jones and Helen Southworth with their objections to the proposal.

Thanks for the turnout and for your support.  You can still help us by keeping the pressure on Jack Straw and our MP’s Helen Jones and Helen Southworth.

Street Stall

Referring back to a previous post, where we asked David Hanson, MP - Minister for Prisons to comment regarding the Government’s position on Warrington being a site for a Titan Prison, we’ve had a response.

You won’t be surprised to hear that it didn’t specifically answer either of the questions posed to the Minister, which were around the decision date and other sites in England.  But he is aware of local opposition.

Below is a copy of the letter:

Response from David Hanson, MP - Minister for Prisons - Click to enlarge

Thanks, Mr Hanson, for keeping us waiting and telling us nothing that we didn’t already know.

We can also add that our MP’s, Helen Jones and Helen Southworth have also yet to respond to the same questions.  To date, they have also still not signed up to the Early Day Motion.  Thank you to those MP’s who have signed up.

We need you all to keep up the pressure on Jack Straw and let him be under no illusion that we are absolutely opposed to these proposals.

As for Helen Jones and Helen Southworth, their silence so far has been noted.  We need to get them to stand up for Warrington, to answer our questions and to sign the Early Day Motion.  It’s not too much to ask of our MP’s is it?  Their contact details are on the Useful Contacts page or click on their names in this post to email them.

Members of WRAPP and Supporters will be in Warrington Town Centre this Saturday (28th March) from 10am until 12.  We’re meeting outside the Skittles and will have a street stall where we will be handing out leaflets and gathering your support.  Please come and show your support on the day.

An Early Day Motion has been put to Parliament, which states:

“That this House notes that the Government’s proposals for Titan-style prisons have been widely condemned by those in the prison sector, including the Chief Inspector of Prisons, the Prison Governors’ Association, the Prison Officers’ Association and the Criminal Justice Alliance; further notes that the Prison Reform Trust cites overwhelming evidence against the likely effectiveness of very large prisons, including higher re-offending rates and greater risks to the safety of both inmates and prison staff; further notes that the Government has admitted that increases in capacity do not offer a sustainable solution to the problem of overcrowding in prisons; further notes that the estimated cost of Titan prisons is escalating, with the cost now estimated to between 1.7 billion and 2.3 billion; and calls for an immediate end to the plan for Titan prisons and a commitment to building smaller, fit-for-purpose facilities, funded in part by the sale of what are often Victorian facilities in city centre locations.”

Please keep an eye on this - we want to see if our own MP’s (Helen Jones and Helen Southworth) sign the motion.  So far they haven’t.  So why don’t we contact them and point it out to them that Warrington would like to see their support added to the list.

Oh, and while you’re at it, why not see if they have a response to our 10,000+ name petition.  They’ve so far made no comment on this, either.  It makes you wonder just what they’re up to and whose interests they’re looking after.  So come on Helens, sign up and show your support.  Residents will be wondering what our MP’s are doing in order to represent us.  So far, that’s not a lot.

Below is a copy of a letter sent to Jack Straw, urging him to come out and state his intentions and timescales, and stressing all party opposition to this in Warrington:

Letter to Jack Straw from WBC - Click to enlarge.

The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
102 Petty France
London SW1H 9AJ

Dear Mr Straw

TITAN PRISON / PRISON CLUSTER IN THE WARRINGTON AREA

On 19 December 2008 you wrote in response to a letter regarding the possibility of a Titan Prison / Prison Cluster in the Warrington area. Thank you for this letter which helpfully clarified your position on this matter.

We are aware that in early February your colleague David Hanson announced the decision to site the new Welsh prison near Caernarfon. We have also read a report in the press (Construction News) that Mr Hanson has stated in a written response that construction work on the first prison cluster could start in 2010. In view of these statements we are wondering what the timescale is for an announcement about the timing of the new prison for the north west? We know our local residents would welcome clarification of this.

We would like to repeat the opposition from all three political parties on the Council to siting a new prison cluster on the Omega site or indeed anywhere else in Warrington. Nothing has changed our view since the original motions were passed at our Council Meeting in November. In particular we are most concerned about the negative impact on businesses deciding whether to locate onto the Omega site if a prison were to be located there. We remain committed to the development of Omega as a high quality business location and do not believe a large new prison would be helpful to achieving this ambition.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely
Councillor Ian Marks        Councillor Keith Bland
Leader                             Deputy Leader

Let’s see how Mr Straw replies.

So, I guess it was only a matter of time before the banner got taken down.  First off - well done to whoever put it up.

The removal of the banner looks like a clean, professional job, which leads me to think that either someone has taken it as a trophy, English Partnerships took exception, or Warrington Borough Council removed it.  There are other theories, but let’s not go into those just yet…

Whilst we’re speaking about rumours… Rumour has it that Jack Straw is having sleepless nights due to the amount of noise and attention that we’re making.  So, let’s keep up the pressure.  Write to Jack Straw (see Useful Contacts page - if emails to him bounce, send them again, and again - they will get through), write to him again, and again, and again, write to Helen Southworth and Helen Jones, our MP’s and tell them that Warrington says NO to Titan Prison.

You can email us your replies via the Contact Us link - we’d love to hear from you.

Let’s keep up the pressure.

Having driven past the Omega South site today, I saw the following and rushed back to get the camera.  Residents feel strongly about the proposed plans.

Whilst some residents have reported the disappearance of some of the “Say No to Titan Prison” signs allegedly being taken down by a man in a fast food van (and have gone into detail as to send us very detailed descriptions - but we’ll not name and shame - you know who you are and it’s your customers and local residents you’re letting down), they obviously felt the need to shout a little louder.

Good on you, we say!

Residents say Keep Titan Prison out of our Community - Click to enlarge

Visiting the URL at the bottom of the Omega poster takes you to the original vision for the Omega site, which states:

“The south site of Omega will redefine the way people view their working environment, with bespoke design and build solutions that will create a new contemporary campus style setting for business within clusters of landscaped urban space.”

Now it looks like the only type of clusters that Jack Straw is supporting is one in the format of a 2,500-place prison cluster, also known as a Titan Prison.

Residents look at the sign - Click to enlarge

Keep your letters of support coming in.  Use the Useful Contacts page on this site and make your voice heard.

If you haven’t already received one, you can download the WRAPP Flyer from here.  Pass this link on to your friends and spread the word.

The subject of Titan Prisons was debated in the House of Lords today and Lord Bach said:

“…announcements will be made shortly, and perhaps even very shortly.”

With that in mind, we thought we’d take this opportunity to show you the scale of the proposed Titan Prison.  Given the information we have, this is how it will look:

Proposed Prison on Omega Site - Click for larger image

To see an aerial map of the area (without the prison imposed), click here.  The red circle marks the approximate centre of the proposed prison.

Use the Useful Contacts page and write to the people concerned and tell them that Warrington says “No to Titan Prison”

Thanks to everyone who has pointed this out - we’ve had a great response from the leaflets that were recently sent around the area - keep your feedback and your comments coming in to us via the Contact Us page.

It seems as though the email address for Jack Straw that is published on the leaflet is no longer working (I wonder why…?).  Well, all is not lost.  If you intend on contacing Jack Straw, please have a look at the Useful Contacts page on this site and the correct details are on there.

Let us know how you get on.

Update: 08/03/09: Apparently, given the fact that Jack Straw has had some email issues recently (it wasn’t us, honest!), you may see some of them bouncing back.  Keep trying that email address, as he is receiving email at that address, but as a backup also use the alternatives like the online form and old-fashioned snail mail.