Harborough District Council leader follows up on plea to government for Gartree Prison U-turn as work starts on site

A computer generated image of how the house blocks will look.

The Leader of Harborough District Council is continuing to chase Prime Minister Keir Starmer for a response to his plea to call-in the controversial decision to build a new prison at Gartree.

Cllr Phil Knowles contacted the Prime Minister’s office to request a response to his letter, sent last month.

The initial letter questioned whether the new ‘super prison’ - which will hold up to 1,715 men across seven housing blocks - is value for money, whether the infrastructure will cope and over its impact on the surrounding community.

The plans have faced opposition from local MPs and the council after they were unanimously turned down by the authority in 2022. A public inquiry held by a government planning inspector then recommended the application by the Ministry of Justice by refused.

But Secretary of State Michael Gove gave the green light to the prison late last year, and construction work has now begun on the site.

Cllr Knowles said it made the plea to the Prime Minister even more urgent.

He added: “The fact that some contractors are on site serves only to increase the urgency of the situation. The sooner the Prime Minister addresses my request to call this in the better. The decisions have been made without a minister even visiting this site.

“The planning committee turned the application down, the planning inspector agreed with the planning committee and said it should be a NO to the request to build. The Prime Minister will I hope agree to the call in and look to have this prison built elsewhere.”