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Home Office;Prison Service

Answer

Mr. Sumberg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what alternative sites to the Agecroft site in Salford were investigated by the Prison Service for the siting of a new prison; and what were the reasons the Agecroft site was preferred against each of such alternatives.[29077] Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from A. J. Pearson to Mr. David Sumberg, dated 13 May 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reapply to your recent Question about sites which were considered as alternatives to the Agecroft site in Salford. Information about alternative sites considered and rejected by the Prison Service is provided in the attached table. The Agecroft site, in comparison with the other locations considered: made strategic sense in terms of other Prison Service establishments and courts in Greater Manchester; was suitable in terms of topography and ground conditions; was in the urban area, but was in a wedge of land largely isolated from its surroundings by a river and a canal. It was also at a considerable distance from large housing developments; was not allocated to any alternative use in the local planning control documents or policies; was available for sale (the owners of several other sites indicated that they would not sell) and at a price which the Prison Service could afford. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Reason Broadway Oldham Oldham -- Allocated within Oldham Development Plan for industry and warehousing. Fragmented site-- maximum single area available 12 acres (too small). Queens Road Cheetham Hill Manchester City Council Manchester City Council Used as a tip--unsuitable for building. Ashton Moss Tameside MBC Mixed inc. Tameside MBC Part within Green Belt. Planning permission for high quality industrial estate, site available late 1997-1998 when motorway completed. Kingswater -- North West Water Subject to tenancies necessitating removal of two golf clubs--timing a problem. Wharfside Trafford MBC Multiple 20 acre site available--2 developers working up proposal for 80 bedroomed hotel and 70,000 sq ft of B1 use for first tranche. Some development has now taken place. Northwest Direct Trafford MBC Gazeley Properties Contains a significant number of activities on site that handle hazardous substances. 30 acre site ASDA superstore being built on site. Plans for petrol filling station, Costco and cinema on remainder. The Village Trafford MBC Trafford MBC Contains a significant number of activities that handle hazardous substances. Site broken into small units; total available 20 acres. Maximum site size 4 acres. Hough End Playing Fields Manchester City Council Manchester City Council Used for recreation. Council unlikely to sell. Restrictive convenant for public open space. _________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

29077; 277 c315-6W;277 c315-8W

Session

1995-96

Subjects

Construction Greater Manchester Prisons

Contains statistics

Yes