Warrington Residents Against Prison Proposal

The announcement is just out and it’s official:

There is to be no prison in Warrington.

The list of Prisons is as follows:

• Beam Park West (East London)
• Chelmsford (Essex)
• Belmarsh
• RAF Coltishall (Norfolk)
• Maghull (Merseyside)

In addition to the five listed above, Little Hey Prison (Cambridgeshire) is set to be expanded.

You can read all about it here.

Quote from Jack Straw on 27/04/09:

“I can tell the House that we will not be pursuing a prison on the Omega site in Warrington.”

Thanks to all of you for your sterling efforts over the last 6 months.  We couldn’t have done it without you.

We’ll update the site again soon - we just wanted to pass on the good news as soon as we heard it, but in the meantime, let’s sit back and take it all in.

You can rest assured that it’s down to all of your hard work and determination, as noted by Jack Straw on numerous occasions, and without it, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Time to celebrate, relax and get on with our lives.

Update to follow…

After discovering that the government have less money left in the kitty than they thought, Jack Straw, MP, Minister for Justice has announced that he is scrapping plans to build any Titan Prisons.

You can read the full story here.

However, let’s not assume that our campaign is over just yet.  Whilst the scrapping of Titan Prisons is fantastic news for us and for everyone concerned, we have to face the reality that the Ministry of Justice have had their eyes on the Omega site for some time, and whilst it was on the list as being a “suitable” site for a Titan prison, we should assume that they are still looking at this site until we are either told otherwise or we see something sensible happening with the land at Omega.

Thanks to everyone who has contacted us today to discuss the news item, please keep your comments coming in, but what we would also ask is that you stay on board, keep visiting the site, as we are making progress - thanks to all of you - but we’re not quite there yet.

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.

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