COUNCIL leaders have expressed their “grave concerns” over the controversial plans for a “super Titan prison” on the Omega site in Warrington.
Warrington Borough Council Leader Ian Marks (right) and his Deputy Keith Bland (left) are looking at preparing a revised masterplan for the site.
Their comments follow speculation that the Ministry of Justice has earmarked part of the Omega site as the north west location for one of their three new supersize prisons, as revealed on warrington-worldwide yesterday.
In a joint statement, they said, “The original plan for Omega was for the creation of 25,000 jobs in the commercial, manufacturing and business sectors. In no way did we ever contemplate a prison on this complex.
This is certainly not part of the vision. If asked whether we want another prison in the Warrington area, our answer is an emphatic ‘no’. Apart from all the other issues surrounding a prison, you have to ask what the implications would be for the businesses we do want to attract to Omega?
“It is true the possibility of a Titan prison was put to us at one of our regular meetings with our partners for the development of the site, alongside a range of other options. Our partners were left in no uncertain terms that we were not giving the green light to a new style prison. No internal discussions have taken place in the Council.
“Because of the economic downturn, we are jointly looking at preparing a revised masterplan for the site. Omega remains a major opportunity for the town and our administration is determined to work with our partners to ensure it becomes a major asset for the town over the next quarter of a century.”
With the “credit crunch” affecting the commercial property market the sites landowners are now looking at alternative uses for the land which was once part of the former US Army airbase at Burtonwood.
The Government is considering building three supersized prisons across the country to tackle overcrowding in jails and have earmarked the north west as a possible site.
The Ministry of Justice is believed to be looking into buying a plot of land on the 550 acre business park site, now owned by Miller Properties.
Work was due to start on Omega last year but in reality little work has taken place following the downturn in the economy with little prospects of improvement in the future.
A Titan super prison would cater for 2,100 in mates with “planned” over crowding to hold up to 2,500.
