Extra 1,000 signatures on petition against proposed super prison in Harborough

Some 1,000 extra signatures have been added to a petition opposing a super prison near Harborough.

The signatures take the total number who have signed against the plans to some 3,000.

But as an inquiry has already been held by planning inspector Hayley Butcher, the additional signatures will not be forwarded to her.

Instead they will be sent to the Secretary of State Dominic Raab when the inspector’s report and recommendation is submitted early next year.

Lib Dem leader Cllr Phil Knowles said he found out about the extra signatures when the updated petition was dropped at the district council offices.

Cllr Knowles – who has previously called on the Secretary of State to visit the proposed prison site – told the Mail: ''This additional number of petition forms takes the figure well into to the mid three thousands – it’s a clear and unquestionable indication that many believe the suggested site to be completely wrong. I'm grateful to those who have signed the petition and I want to express my thanks to the person or persons who have spent time in gathering well over a thousand additional signatures.

“The assurances the inspectorate will forward these added signatures along with the recommendation submission to the Ministry of Justice is extremely good news. Hopefully when the document pack lands the signatures will add weight to the considerations and the Ministry of Justice, and especially Mr Raab, will finally accept that this site is wrong on so many fronts.”

The appeal by the Ministry of Justice was held after Harborough district councillors unanimously voted against the plans for a £300million category B super prison to be built next to the existing Gartree prison. They cited concerns about the impact of traffic and developing on open countryside.

Along with the petition there were also some 364 objections.

But the MOJ argued the prison would bring great investment to the area which led to a two-week appeal being held in October. A recent Freedom of Information request found the MOJ had spent some £255,000 on external lawyers to prepare for the public inquiry.