[Fwd: Stop the Prison Action Group Marchington Staffs.]

[savage]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Stop the Prison Action Group Marchington Staffs.
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 00:59:58 -0000
From: "Robert Hardwick" <gf...@dial.pipex.com>
To: <sav...@easynet.co.uk>

HM PRISON SERVICE HAVE APPLIED FOR PLANNING PERMISION TO GRUB OUT 460
METRES OF HEDGEROW BEFORE A FULL PLANNING APPLICATION IS SUBMITTED BY
PRIVATE PRISON CONTRACTOR. IF THE APPLICATION FOR THE PRISON FAILS WE
WILL HAVE LOST 460 METRES OF WILDLIFE HABITAT>Could you help us or
give us advice. HM Prison Service purchased a site in 1990 in rural
Staffordshire to build a state run prison however later that year the
project was cancelled. The reasons for the Prison Service choosing the
site in the first place is very murky, with the Borough council's main
interest in the prison development being to create a development
opportunity for private developers. It will bring in infrastructure
which will make it more profitable for the private developers to
develope sites near the prison and give justification for planning
infill. The area for development was part of World War 2 American army
camp made up of temporary structures and was sold off and returned to
local farmers in the seventies, two thirds of the area the area
described by the council as derelict was disputed by an inspector at a
local plans Inquiry in 1994 who said the land had reverted back to its
natural state and most was back in agricultural use including the
proposed prison site. He had to accept the prison site remain
safeguarded because of its Crown status. The prison is now intented to
be built and run by a private prison operator as such it no longer has
the same crown rights with private contractor having to submit a fresh
planning application under the Town and Country planning act.The
proposal is not sustainable development and even fails to meet the
DETR Guidelines "Planning for future prison development" Feb 1998.
There is no shortage of prison places in Staffordshire currently home
to 39.5% of the whole of the West Midlands Region's prison population
whilst only having 19.5% of its total population. The proposed prison
will increase Staffordshires share to 42% and with a prison to be
built at Onley Warwickshire will bring the West Midlands Region into a
surplus of 1,200 places. This can only mean people will have be sent
in from areas of shortage such as Wales,North West and London strange
when Sir Richard Tilt claimed in 1997 that it was the Prison Services
aim to house prisoners reasonably close to their home areas ?
Visitors, probation officers etc will have to travel considerable
distances from their home areas to the prison, those who travel on the
assisted visitor travel schemes will have long disjointed journeys as
the area is not well served by public transport. Locally unemployment
is below 2% the main population centre from which to attract staff is
10 miles away, the Home Office in their Traffic Impact Assessment
anticipate people travelling up to twenty miles.If you can offer us
any type of help we would be very grateful you can contact the group
via myself Robert Hardwick E mail gf...@dial.pipex.com or Tel 01283
820513 or Fax 01283 821356.