The Isle of Wight Council is still in the running to take on the old Camp Hill prison, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has revealed.
In response to a question posed by Island MP Bob Seely in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Justice Minister Damian Hinds confirmed options were being looked at for decommissioned HM prisons across the country.
Mr Hinds went on to say, of the options being looked at for Camp Hill, transferring the site to the Isle of Wight Council was 1 of them and MOJ officials would continue conversations with council staff.
Bob Seely has expressed his frustration with a lack of decision-making over the former prison, with a minister admitting the Island had been waiting nearly a decade for an answer on Camp Hill.
The site behind Parkhurst Forest has been identified in the council’s Island Planning Strategy as a ‘key priority’. This means the authority’s focus is on the site with aims of developing it in the 15 years the plan runs, from when it is approved. The council’s plans for the site include up to 750 homes, approximately 2 hectares of employment land to create jobs, community buildings and recreation spaces.
While the site is still in MoJ control, however, the council has been reluctant to commit to its future. Under the ruling Alliance Administration, focus has shifted to sites the authority owns and can dispose of or develop to meet the housing need of the Island. Sites at the former Island Learning Centre in Lake; Thompson House in Gatcombe and the former Weston Academy in Totland have overtaken Camp Hill in its priority list, possibly providing around 70 houses.
An Isle of Wight Council spokesperson has confirmed no decision had been made so the authority was unable to pursue development of modular homes at Camp Hill or used its existing buildings for Island-based manufacture until it has ownership and permissions from the MOJ in place.
The Camp Hill site is made up of almost 55 hectares and is a mixture of brownfield and greenfield land. Other public bodies, including fire and the police, are said to have enquired about Camp Hill.
I was in discussions with the Home Office on the release of unused land for about 3 years & I took early retirement in 1996!!!.
Could be a new home for the IOW Council and the homeless! They could then sell their ‘prime estate’ property in Newport. Two birds, one stone.
Ain’t nobody buying commercial property in Newport these days.
Maybe not, but the idea of incarcerating the council in a secure environment appeals.
Why can they not use it for illegal immigrants??
Why not use it for prisoners, Rishi said the other day there was a shortage of prisons and we have had one here empty for years. But then it’s only public money!
The car wash is fully staffed now as people cut back on unnecessary spending, as are the Curry houses
Any knocking down of walls buildings etc could be recycled and used to infill the empty gaps between all the sea walls around the Island. Free infill will make all those sea walls and coastal paths so much stronger. If the foot plate/slab is lifted and the empty space behind the face plates are filled up with all this excess rubble, it should make these Coastal paths last for many more years. The costs would be minimal and yet achieve and save the Isle of Wight Council millions on saved repaire costs! Or is this just to simple?
750 plus new home’s °°°!!!!!!!
What planet do they live on ????..
Total numptys ……
How on earth can the island cope with this ?????
How many times we the do we the electorate say infrastructure ???
Dr’s Dentists and 1 Hospital……
Cloth ears , the lot of them ….
Money money money, ker ching ,,,,,
More council tax , more of our money to waste !!!!!
what we need is a larger extention to St Marys hospitol with free carparking facilities for the staff with tunnel transportation access to and throw to the old and new hospitol ,NOT 1000 HOUSES THAT I QUESTIONED Councilor Dave Stewart on in 2019