Caernarfon's Ferodo site on prison shortlist

Aug 7 2008 By Alex Hickey

CAERNARFON'S former Ferodo site has unexpectedly made the shortlist as a potential home for a new prison in Wales.

The brownfield site, on the outskirts of town on the banks of the Menai Strait, is one of just four named by Prisons Minister David Hanson MP on Wednesday.

If chosen, it will mean hundreds of public sector jobs will be created.

Its only other rival in North Wales is the former Firestone factory in Wrexham – the other two are in Cwmbrân and Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.

There is currently no prison in North Wales, with the region’s prisoners and young offenders mainly incarcerated in England, hundreds of miles from home.

There is also an overall shortage of about 1,300 prison places across Wales and no women’s prison in the country.

Any new prison is expected to include facilities for men, women and young offenders to plug that gap.

The final decision on a proposed site will be made once all feedback has been considered.

Interested parties will have until October 31 to provide a comment, and the proposed site will then be subject to planning permission.

Caernarfon MP Hywel Williams welcomed the Minister’s decision.

"I lobbied very hard to have this site included on the shortlist and had meetings with the Prisons Minister, the Home Secretary and the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

"If accepted, it will create hundreds of public sector jobs that will remain in this area for decades to come."

He said as well as a jobs boost, building a prison in North Wales was essential to improve criminal justice provision in the region.

"Currently prisoners from North Wales serve their sentences in England, miles away from their families, leaving them isolated and less likely to be rehabilitated once they leave prison.

"According to Ministry of Justice guidelines, young people in custody should be no more than 50 miles from home but almost all from this area are in institutions much further away than that.

"The Welsh Affairs Committee investigated this matter earlier this year and concluded there is a clear need for a prison for North Wales."

Gwynedd Council leader Dyfed Edwards said it had "lobbied hard" for a new prison for North Wales.

Officials will discuss the announcement and its implications "at the earliest possible opportunity".

However, Tory Shadow Minister for Wales David Jones MP called for a jail to be built in the North and South.

He said neither North Wales site was ideal.

The Ferodo site was also home to Friction Dynamics, the scene of one of Wales’ longest-running industrial disputes.

Bluefield Land currently own the land and are in the process of developing proposals for the site.

Any acquisition would be subject to terms being agreed.