PROPOSED NEW PRISON
APPEAL INQUIRY DETAILS HERE
STARTS AT 10am TUESDAY 24 JANUARY FOR 10 DAYS
Strategic Sites Committee Meeting
2pm on Thursday 24 March 2022
Planning application for new Category C prison at HMP Grendon.
Please note that the above application will be considered on Thursday 24th March at the above time.
Seats in the public gallery are restricted to 25 only with limited space for standing.
If you wish to watch the proceedings please follow the link below where on the day the meeting will be broadcast live via the webcast.
At the Committee Meeting certain speakers are allowed to make a verbal representation to the Committee which is limited to a three minute slot per speaker. Speakers who will be opposing the application on behalf of residents are:
- Buckinghamshire Council Cllr Angela Macpherson, GU Ward
- Buckinghamshire Council Cllr Frank Mahon, GU Ward
- Buckinghamshire Council Cllr Michael Rand, GU Ward.
- Parish Councils - one designated speaker
- Objectors – one designated speaker, Dr R. Baker, Chairman, Prison Working Group
https://buckinghamshire.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=362&MId=16994
Please see link to short video of Greg Smith, MP and Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber discussing the prison:
Ministry of Justice:
The New Prisons Programme and proposals for a potential new prison in Buckinghamshire
The following are objections and correspondence to the Ministry of Justice's proposed new prison at the Grendon/Springhill:
More objection and comments can be found at: More objections and consultee comments
NO MORE PRISONS HERE
Thank you to those who have attended the recent Grendon and Edgcott Zoom meetings
The following is a link to the documents and presentations on the GUPC website: https://www.gupc.org.uk
Presentations also can be found below:
The following are links to documents sent to 20 surrounding villages:
SEE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION REGARDING THE CONSULTATION STAGE, HOWEVER AN OULINE PLANNING APPLICATION HAS BEEN SUBMITTED AND INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND HERE
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is seeking the views of residents and businesses on plans for a potential new prison on land adjacent to the current HMP Grendon/Springhill.
Full details of the proposed new prison can be found HERE:
The proposed new prison will be Category C and accommodate 1440 inmates. The current prisons of Grendon and Springhill have a combined capacity of less than 600 inmates.
There will be 1000 people working on site at any one time during construction, which will take around 3 years, and the completed prison will provide 500 to 600 permanent jobs.
It is expected that the majority of residents in Edgcott, Grendon Underwood and many other villages in this area of North Bucks will be strongly opposed to this new prison.
The period for public consultation closes on 24 December 2020 and Edgcott Parish Council has submitted the following comments /objections which may assist you in making your submission:
- There will no longer be green field space between Edgcott and the proposed prison.
- The damage to the environment will be significant with the loss of much green space.
- The new prison will need to be well lit at night for security reasons resulting in much light pollution.
- The local sewerage systems struggle to cope at present and do not have the capacity for an additional 1440 inmates and 500 to 600 workers.
- This area is prone to flooding and concreting over the fields will make the flooding worse.
- 1000 people involved in the construction will put too much pressure on the local roads which are already struggling to cope with HS2 and EWR construction traffic. A recent traffic survey carried out in Edgcott shows a daily average of 3436 vehicles passing through the village.
- 500 to 600 permanent jobs plus daily visitors will result in a daily two way movement of at least 1500 vehicles which the local roads are not designed for.
- A more suitable site would be at Bullingdon where the existing prison has been successfully located on MoD land. There is still much surplus MoD land in this location and access to the A41 and M40 is much easier than the access to the Grendon site.
- The Ministry of Justice claim that house prices in the area will increase due to a greater demand. This is not the case as prison staff find the local housing to be unaffordable and they have to journey some distance into work. In addition, a new prison in this neighbourhood is more likely to depress local house prices and make it more difficult for people to sell their property.
- Four storey blocks are proposed which would be totally out of character for a rural area.
Please act now and ensure that as many people as possible in your household make their views known to the MoJ through the website links https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/potential-new-prison-in-buckinghamshire and at the same time inform your MP Greg Smith and local councillors Angela Macpherson and Cameron Branston at:
Angela.Macpherson@buckinghamshire.gov.uk
Cameron.Branston@buckinghamshire.gov.uk
Edgcott Parish Council will be notifying parishes in this area of our concerns and please spread the word so that as many submissions as possible are made to MoJ. ‘There is strength in numbers’.
For more information contact either peterharper22@hotmail.com or edgcottparishclerk@gmail.com
