Harborough MP’s plea to new Government ministers for controversial super prison plans to be dropped
Recently re-elected Harborough MP, Neil O’Brien, is continuing his campaign against plans for a ‘super prison’ at Gartree by appealing to the newly-appointed Government ministers.
The MP for Harborough Oadby and Wigston has written to Planning Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, calling for the controversial plans to be dropped. Campaigners had previously written to the Conservative ministers before they lost power after the general election.
Outline planning permission has already been granted for the category ‘B’ prison, which nearby residents fought to prevent being built.
The original plan for the huge super prison, capable of housing 1,700 inmates, was rejected in 2022, when Harborough district councillors voted unanimously to dismiss the application.
But last November the scheme received the go ahead by Secretary of State Michael Gove, who ignored the advice of the government’s own planning inspector. With the overall plan approved, the current application covers the layout and appearance of the site.
Planning documents state there will be 14 buildings within the main prison, in a landscaped setting. The accommodation buildings will be four storeys high, and ‘over 100 metres’ away from the nearest home.
But Mr O’Brien argues there is still time to avoid ‘getting locked into a location which everyone will come to regret for years to come’.
In his letter he wrote: “The proposed new prison at Gartree is a national institution and could be put in any location in England.
“The Ministry of Justice’s own analysis stresses the importance for rehabilitation of prisoners receiving visits. But this proposed site would make that impossible for many, as it has almost no public transport access, so any visitors that did try to come would face a lengthy walk down a country road with no pavement.”
He suggests the plans go against the treasury’s own principles on creating social and economic benefits where employment is lower and investment needs are higher since, he argues, Gartree is an ‘expensive area with very high employment rates’.
He continues: “The new prison could be placed on any brownfield site in the country – but this proposed site is a greenfield site on an expensive plot of land.
“The prison was rejected by the local council and by the planning inspector. I am not at all against the building of new prisons. But this is a poor choice of site. You still have ample time to rethink this and to put this prison on a more suitable site, which will work better for both prisoners and the wider community.”
According to the current application, the layout of the new prison has been ‘carefully considered in respect of Gartree village and the surrounding area’, including privacy and the ‘integration and improvement of the local environment’.
Harborough District Council Leader Phil Knowles has also made a plea to newly elected Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to ‘revisit’ the decision to build the new prison.
In a letter to the Labour PM, Cllr Knowles asks whether the prison is value for money and whether the infrastructure in the area is suitable. He also suggests it could serve as a ‘catalyst’ having a
‘hugely negative’ impact on the community.
He has invited government ministers to meet with him at the site.