Wrexham prison plan back on the agenda

Published date: 15 October 2009 | Published by: Phil Robinson


The old firestone site on the Wrexham industrial estate 

WREXHAM council chiefs are expecting to be involved in talks about finding a fresh location for a North Wales prison within the next few weeks.

Land occupied by the former Firestone tyre factory on the town's industrial estate was one of the four sites across Wales  shortlisted for the jail last year.

Then early this year it was announced that the former Ferodo factory site just outside Caernarfon had been chosen.

But last month Prisons Minister Maria Eagle delivered the bombshell news that this site was considered "not suitable for prison development

The Government has said alternative sites in Wales and England will now be considered.

Wrexham Council leader, Cllr Aled Roberts, said recently he was prepared to discuss the possibility of the prison being built in this area.

And he has now revealed that he expects talks to get under way soon.

He said: "We are awaiting contact from the Government.

"All the the local authorities in North Wales will be approached, and I think discussions could open within the next few weeks."

Cllr Roberts has said in the past that if the old Firestone site is back under consideration, it is the Welsh Assembly Government and not the council who are the landowners.

He has also admitted that the 750 jobs which the new prison would create would be "a major consideration" in Wrexham's case.

He told the Leader: "The real issue is that there is no prison facility anywhere in North Wales and if the Government is going to continue to imprison the number of people it does, there is a need for new prison buildings."

Wrexham MP Ian Lucas opposes the siting of the prison in the town that the former Firestone site is not appropriate.

A probe has been launched into the government U-turn over plans to build a prison in Caernarfon.

The investigation by the Welsh Affairs Committee will examine the decision to ditch the prison plan recently.

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  1. Posted by: Yachydda at 10:29 on 16 October 2009 Report

    Cllr Roberts is deaf, and politicaly he's a washout,OI Cllr... we (the good people ) of Wrexham do NOT want a prison here..get it?

  2. Posted by: a cahill at 13:22 on 16 October 2009 Report

    It's a certainty...... if Ian Lucas is objecting to it.... given his record on saving Jobs and Housing and the Venture

  3. Posted by: Roland Cleth at 13:30 on 16 October 2009 Report

    It may not be wanted, but is it needed?

  4. Posted by: Yachydda at 15:13 on 16 October 2009 Report

    Roland Cleth : Good point, but would you want a Prison and all that comes with it on your doorstep? The joke about it is that it is claimed that 750 jobs would be created... overall that is probly true... but very few will be local jobs, if even British.

  5. Posted by: Roland Cleth at 15:25 on 16 October 2009 Report

    Yachydda - No, I wouldn't want it, I'd be a classic NIMBY; however, it would be exactly the same if it was a hospital and I'd find it difficult to come up with a sustainable argument then, too. Of the jobs created by the prison, why wouldn't they be local? Yes, inevitably experienced warders, and the like, from outside would be applying but surely there'd be a fair few left for locals. Same with the construction work.

  6. Posted by: Yachydda at 15:37 on 16 October 2009 Report

    Yes you have some valid points, but theres a problem with security when building prisons...they dont like to employ too many because of the posibility of breaches in security... as is with the building of every new prison. Yes you will probably have a few local warders, but I would estimate that out of the total 750, only 10% would be local.

  7. Posted by: Yachydda at 15:39 on 16 October 2009 Report

    sorry missed a word. Yes you have some valid points, but theres a problem with security when building prisons...they dont like to employ too many locals because of the posibility of breaches in security... as is with the building of every new prison. Yes you will probably have a few local warders, but I would estimate that out of the total 750, only 10% would be local.

  8. Posted by: Roland Cleth at 16:47 on 16 October 2009 Report

    "...they dont like to employ too many locals because of the posibility of breaches in security..." Good point. No doubt Cllr. Roberts and Ian Lucas can assist as to what jobs we might expect to go locally.

  9. Posted by: taximan at 15:15 on 06 January 2010 Report

    why dont we want a prison in wrexham havent heard one decent objection , it would create jobs and somewere local for villians to be housed.

 

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