Warrington Residents Against Prison Proposal

The Ministry of Justice has recently announced a further trawl for sites for a new prison in the North West, implying that, once again, Warrington may be under consideration.

Six months earlier, on the 27th April 2009, Jack Straw, in an Ministry of Justice statement, said:

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

The MoJ Press Release went on to say:

“The outcome of the site search will be a published shortlist of potential sites. Once a site is identified, consultation with local MPs, local authorities and residents will be undertaken in order to achieve the most open and transparent process possible.

Once consultation has concluded, we will seek to acquire that site with an appropriate planning consent.”

If the Ministry of Justice are now looking at Warrington again, it will be one of this governments quickest U-turns.

WRAPP are committed to holding the government to their word and will be contacting all concerned persons.

WRAPP will continue to strongly resist the siting of any new prison within Warrington.

You can subscribe to our newsletter or RSS feed to keep up to date with our updates.  We will be updating you with information as soon as we can.

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…

Although possibly a little too late, the Ministry of Justice have, under the Freedom of Information Act, released the full list of sites under consideration for the building of Titan Prisons.

This list can be found on the MoJ Website - There are 76 locations on the list.  Two of them (yes, two!) in Warrington, one in Widnes, three in Wigan and one in St Helens (Stoke-on-Trent has 11 potential sites listed).

The two locations in Warrington are the Omega Development and one in Appleton - Dennow Farm.

It’s no wonder that the MoJ kept this quiet for so long.  According to one newspaper:

“They said it had been proving difficult to gain planning permission for the Titans. One proposed site, in Warrington, Cheshire, sparked ferocious protests.“

You bet it did.

Keep your comments coming - we’re reading every one of them.

We thank you for your support so far, and know that if we have to, we can rely on you all to come together again to fight the cause.  Just because the Titan Prisons have been scrapped, it doesn’t mean that the idea has gone altogether.  We are Warrington Residents Against Prison Proposal.

The Ministry of Justice will be announcing the list of the 5 proposed “smaller” (yet still very large) 1,500 place prisons tomorrow (Monday 27 April).  We’ll keep you updated.

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.

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.

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.

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”

Residents Say No to Titan Prison

We’ve noticed a number of “Say No to Titan Prison” signs have been cropping up around the Burtonwood, Whittle Hall and Westbrook areas.  This confirms to us that the feeling among residents is that they are still concerned about the proposed plans to build a Titan Prison on the Omega site and want to make their feelings known loud and clear.

In other news, a large number of residents were out in force this weekend handing out leaflets in many of the Town’s retail parks.  This has prompted an outstanding wave of positive comments in support of the campaign.  Please keep your comments coming.

Meanwhile, WRAPP can confirm that a meeting was held recently with members of WRAPP and local Councilors with the aim of pushing the Omega concept forward.  This concept is to provide 25,000 new hi-tech jobs on the multi-million pound business park.  Keep watching for more details.

Keep your comments coming, and also don’t forget to keep writing to our MP’s, Miller Developments and the Ministry of Justice, voicing your opposal to the planned Prison scheme.  A list of useful contacts and addresses can be found here.

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.