Rayner overrules inspector, approves Chorley super-prison
Plans for a 1,700-space inmate facility on 107 acres of Green Belt next to HMP Garth and HMP Wymott have been given the green light despite the Planning Inspectorate saying it should be refused.
The decision of secretary of state Angela Rayner to approve the plans for the 800,000 sq ft Category C Chorley prison comes three years after Chorley Council rejected the application.
The authority cited the impact on the Green Belt, highway safety, and the amenity of residents nearby as the three reasons for refusal.
HMP appealed the decision, citing an “urgent need” for increased prison capacity. The appeal began in April 2022 and has now finally been approved in line with Labour’s election promise to build more prisons.
The prison’s planning journey has been long and confusing. In 2022, the Planning Inspectorate sided with the council and recommended the appeal be dismissed.
However, Lee Rowley MP, then parliamentary under-secretary of state for local government and building safety, disagreed.
Acting on behalf of the secretary of state, he issued a ‘minded a grant’ decision in January 2023 and the appeal was reheard.
As we near the end of 2024, a similar situation has occurred again, with the Planning Inspectorate recommending dismissal only to be overruled by politicians.
Rayner decided that the harm to the Green Belt and the other harms identified are “clearly outweighed by the benefits [of the scheme]”.
She concluded that very special circumstances exist that justify approval of the scheme, citing the need for the development in terms of capacity and the project’s economic benefits.
Cushman & Wakefield has been leading the planning team for the project. Pick Everard designed the scheme. Also on the team: Mace, Ramboll, Tyler Grange, Orion Heritage, Hydrock, Heritage Advisory, Pegasus, E3P, and Atkins.
The planning reference for the project is 21/01028/OUTMAJ and the appeal reference is APP/D2320/W/22/3295556.
Could this mean the closure of Strangeways is now on the cards?
By Steve
There’s already two prisons there with a capacity of just over 2,000 prisoners so this new thing would push local prison population to nearly 4,000. I bet Rayner would love that on her own bloody doorstep. What is the point of local councils deciding what is or isn’t good for the community and then some idiot in government with little idea of what day it is, coming along overturning council decisions.
By Paul Topping
MoJ would be mad to close a Category A prison when inmate population is at a record high. Strangeways closure is an MCC dream which they have no levers to actually realise. As uncomfortable as it may be to the average citizen – inner city prisons are there for the exact same reason they are – access, in this case proximity to the courts. If people want to move prisons to the countryside then you have to schlepp the court rooms out too but that is seemingly not part of the conversation. That said it certainly makes more sense for city prisons to be remand prisons rather than dispersal prisons (Strangeways being both) – but as with most things the system hasn’t been designed it just happened by accident.
By H
A previous article regards Strangeways saw Eamonn Boylan state “The only thing the MoJ is interested in is numbers. Nobody is thinking about place. It is difficult to have a sensible conversation [with them].”
Sounds to me like its impossible to have a sensible conversation with Eamonn – of course the only thing they are interested in is numbers – it would be a dereliction of their statutory purpose if they were more concerned with place making. If the way MCC are going to go about making their case boils down to “but I don’t like it please move” Strangeways ain’t going nowhere. And this gets to the heart of Labours approach to the planning process – you may not like it locally but strategically it is required to satisfy a national need. Ultimately locally elected councillors will be overridden by national politicians as the interests they represent are more significant. Its got to happen somewhere – it might as well happen here.
By H
Having a chuckle that people are unhappy that this will result in a population increase, as if the prisoners are out and about, using parking spaces, school spaces, etc.
They’re banged up!
By Not Shoppers
@Paul Topping. . If every council decided not to house a prison, what then? Local councillors are likely to side with the popular vote but that might well not be in the national interest. Given that the prisoners are locked up, what difference does it make if the are 2000 or 4000? Extra staff will keep the shops and services going
By Clouded leopard
Perhaps they could stop locking people up for minor offences then they wouldn’t need so many prisons?
By Anonymous
The infrastructure is not adequate. Thay has been proven. Long winding, narrow country lanes with a construction vehicle going down it every 90 seconds is not safe or practical! The location is rural making visiting hard to get to. They will be ‘squeezing’ it into a location that is not big enough for it, building right up to the housing estate. There are already 2 prisons there that have staffing issues and long standing problems. What makes the government think that shoving another one there will solve the problems when they can’t get staff for the 2 that are already there due to location, staff retention problems, etc. Absolutely ridiculous. It has been decided by the inspector TWICE against it going ahead! What is the point of having that system when the inspectorate is just going to be ignored every time. They are making a mockery out of him, if all the government is going to do is over rule him every time.
There are several, more appropriate locations that would be better suited for the prison such as Kirkham and Manchester, with better infrastructure, public accessability/transport, easier and nearer for staff/visitors/deliveries to get to, so why keep trying to put it in a place where it is totally inappropriate??? They have known this from the beginning.
This government is just as bad as the last one.
People understand the need for more prisons, but they should build them in more appropriate locations. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!
By Anonymous
Amateurs like Stockport will be forced to sit up and realise how lacking in ambition they are. It is no longer enough to desecrate the green belt with affordable housing estates. If the riches of western post-industrialism are to be grasped with both hands, we need mega-prisons
By Grossberger
This will put more pressure on the over stretched NHS in the local area, due to prisoners medical appointments, ambulances being called to prisoners due to drugs overdose and spice, and others attempting suicide whilst inside. This is just the tip of the iceberg. If the government is looking at more prison places, then why have so many prisons been closed (Kennet, Lincoln etc) is this to make a profit in selling off the land that these closed prison stood on? I do live next to the two prisons and with the third one on the cards to be built this will be over 4000 prisoners in this one area. All this needs inferstructure support (food delivery, staffing, maintenance, post delivery) and no doubt there will be workshops that will need materials delivered, and visitors to the prisons, which will be a burden on the rural roads which are not suitable for large vehicles. So to increase the prison population to another 2000 which would be double what there is at present is an absolute joke and to be honest after the planing permission turned down for this third prison to be over ruled by the MPs really don’t give a toss about the decisions of the local councils or the public living in this area.
By Anonymous
Since when was Lincoln prison closed???
It was still in use last week when I passed it.
By Anonymous
Very green of you how about building up rather than out why green belt? And why on earth do you need107 acres to house 1,700 prisoners its not disney land people are in prison to b punished multi storey decent accomodation is enough
By Anonymous