Warrington Residents Against Prison Proposal

In a letter sent to Warrington Borough Council, the Rt Hon Jack Straw, MP says:

“We have yet to confirm our interest in specific sites, and the Omega site in Warrington is one of a number which are under consideration in the North West.  Once sites are identified, we intend to follow the normal planning route and will make an application for planning permission to the appropriate local planning authority.

Before we submit any planning application, my officials will hold pre-application consultations with planning officers, local councillors and other interested parties on the detail of the proposed prison development in the usual way.  This will include a public exhibition to explain the proposals and give local people the opportunity to comment.”

The full letter is here:  (click image to enlarge)

Letter to Council Leader Ian Marks from Jack Straw - Click to enlarge

Keep your letters going to Miller Developments and our MP’s, Helen Southworth and Helen Jones.

And as always, keep your emails, comments and enquiries coming to us at WRAPP.  We’ll keep you updated.

According to an article on ContractJournal.com, the Ministry of Justice has been in contact with Miller Developments and held discussions relating to purchasing part of Omega to build “some form of prison development”.

We need you to write to Andrew Sutherland and Jack Straw to ask them what’s going on and what’s being discussed, because so far, Miller have remained tight-lipped and the Ministry of Justice have been sitting on the fence.

Andrew Sutherland:
Miller Developments
Head Office
Miller House
2 Lochside View
Edinburgh Park
Edinburgh
EH12 9DH

Tel: 0870 336 5296

Jack Straw MP
House of Commons,
London
SW1A 0AA

Or

Richmond Chambers
Richmond Rd
Blackburn BB1 7AS

You may also want to ask your local MP’s to comment on the article.

Helen Southworth
1A Academy Place
Academy Street
Warrington
WA1 2NR
Tel: 01925 240002
Fax: 01925 632614
email: southworth@parliament.uk

or

Helen Jones, MP
http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/commons/member/search/l/helen jones.html

You can check other contacts from our Useful Contacts page

We need a significant number of people to make any planned event worthwhile so only sign up on this page if you intend to give your support.

Your responses and details can only be seen by the site Administrators and will not be published or passed on, so you can submit in confidence.

Your WRAPP Team

Almost 150 pople have now participated in the survey and some of you have left some very honest and constructive comments, but we still need more people to join in.  As we said in the last update, it is really important that we understand how the people of Warrington are thinking in order to help shape the campaign and have the best chance of bringing a halt to the prison proposal.

So come on click Here to go directly to the online survey, fill it in then get a friend or neighbour to do the same !

We want to publish the results on here soon so be quick as we want to close the survey in the next week or so.  Don’t miss your chance to air your views !

For your peace of mind please be assured that Wrapp will never reveal the email addresses or identity of survey participants.

Your Wrapp Team

Thanks to everybody who attended the meeting last night, there was another great turnout and Wire FM, Granada and others were also in attendance and spoke to a number of residents.

We appreciate that people are very busy, which is why it was great to see so many of you there in support yesterday.

Outside the Parr Hall. Image Copyright © WRAPP. Reproduction only with permission

At the meeting, Warrington Borough Council voted in favour of rejecting the Governments proposed plans to build a Titan Prison on the Omega site.

Inside the Parr Hall just before the meeting started. Image Copyright © WRAPP. Reproduction only with permission

We’ll be posting some more pictures of the evening on this site shortly - so stay posted.  Also keep checking back for more news and events as we get it.

As always, if you have any questions, please fell free to contact us.

Council meeting to be held on Monday 3rd November at 6:30pm at the Parr Hall. All welcome.

Following the initial residents meeting at Whittle Hall Community Centre on 6th October, Warrington Council have agreed that their next Council meeting should be held in a venue capable of housing the large numbers of local residents who wish to demonstrate their opposition to the proposal to build a Titan Prison on the land known locally as ‘The Omega Site’, Warrington.  Please note that this is a regular scheduled Council Meeting at which this issue will be discussed - it is not a meeting set up to only discuss this issue.

We would therefore like to inform all residents that this meeting is due to commence at 6:30pm on Monday  3rd November.  You should aim to be seated by 6:20pm.  Entry is on a first come first served basis.

Due to the expected numbers of local residents wishing to attend this meeting, it has been suggested that any members of the public wishing to attend the meeting should gather in the area known locally as Bank Park, Warrington (Golden Gates) at 5:45pm and that they should then proceed to The Parr Hall, to attend the Council meeting.

We must stress that this is not an organised walk and behaviour here has to be impeccable and at no time should anybody do or attempt anything that could cause disruption or disturbance.

We have been advised by Council members that this gathering should be ‘merely a group of local residents, gathering, to walk to a common place.’  This is not a demonstration.

We would therefore like to emphasise that whilst we appreciate that many of us feel passionately about this cause, this should remain a peaceful gathering, to get a very important message across.

The local press have been invited to attend the meeting, purely to raise the profile of our campaign.

We have also been advised that whilst attending the meeting, we should respect that this is official Council business and that we should act in an appropriate manner.

We urge all residents to attend this event, to demonstrate strength in numbers, to send a very loud and clear message to the Government, that “Warrington says NO to Titan Prisons!”

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us

See you there.

Almost 100 pople have participated in the survey so far but we need more people to join in.  It is really important that we understand how the people of Warrington are thinking in order to help shape the campaign and have the best chance of bringing a halt to the prison proposal.

So come on click Here to go directly to the online survey, fill it in then get a friend or neighbour to do the same !

The WRAPP TEAM

The WRAPP team have created a short survey form to gather the views of the community on the prison proposal.   It will only take you a couple of minutes to fill it in so click the link below and get started right away:

Take me to the Online Survey

Remember to keep coming back for more information.

We’ve added a list of useful contacts for you to use when writing letters or emails.  This can be found at:

http://www.wrapp.org.uk/useful-contacts/

Keep sending your letters and emails.  Sign the petitions, get your friends and family to do the same.

Media statement

A spokesman for Warrington Borough Council said:

“In the course of our discussions with English Partnerships, Miller Homes and the NWDA about the development of Omega, it was put to us that Omega was being considered as one possible location for a Titan prison. We would have very real concerns about such a proposal and would need to know a lot more. As far as Warrington Council is aware, Omega is progressing and there is a lot of interest in the site from a whole range of commercial, industrial and business developers. We are working closely with our partners in this scheme to re-evaluate the uses on phase two of Omega in the light of the current economic climate but remain committed to securing the future of the Omega development and ensuring that Warrington is well placed to make the most of this site of regional significance.”

The above statement was issued by Warrington Borough Council
Wednesday 10 September, 2008

Warrington Residents Against Prison Proposal oppose these plans and we’re looking for help from you to sign the online petition and keep checking here for further information.