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Hundreds protest against prison plans

10:20pm Monday 6th October 2008

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HUNDREDS of residents showed their opposition to any plans to bring a new "super prison" to Warrington.

A hastily arranged public meeting saw people pack Whittle Hall community centre to hear more about a possible scheme.

Hundreds more stood outside, unable to get in.

The new Titan prisons could house more than 2,000 prisoners.

Although Warrington Borough Council has issued a complete denial of the story, they did hold initial talks about potentially hosting a prison on the future Omega site.

Council leader Ian Marks says he told developers that such an institution should not be built on the site.

However developers Miller are known to be struggling to sell the land - planned to be used for hi-tec business.

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Your Say Your Guardian

willywonka, warrington says...
11:03pm Mon 6 Oct 08

This new build prison will bring valuable jobs in construction and long term employment, so stop moaning and let it happen.

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pioneer1, warrington says...
9:45am Tue 7 Oct 08

lets put it behind your house then

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pioneer1, warrington says...
9:45am Tue 7 Oct 08

lets put it behind your house then

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pioneer1, warrington says...
9:45am Tue 7 Oct 08

lets put it behind your house then

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pioneer1, warrington says...
9:47am Tue 7 Oct 08

lets put it behind your house then.

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WiredPotter, Great Sankey says...
10:14am Tue 7 Oct 08

It will also bring undesirables like drug dealers, sex offenders, even *more* traffic to our area and could pave the way for the authorities to "rehabilitate" offenders upon release. I take it you don't have kids, a car, a house (oh and the right to a decent area to live) or anything else worth protecting ww?

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LJ, Westbrook says...
10:33am Tue 7 Oct 08

Drug dealers and sex offenders? We've already got them. What we need is somewhere to lock them up!!

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WiredPotter, Great Sankey says...
10:45am Tue 7 Oct 08

LJ wrote:
Drug dealers and sex offenders? We've already got them. What we need is somewhere to lock them up!!
Agreed - that's not an issue. What we don't want though, is to be forced into having a prison on our doorsteps because it's "convenient" for the builders, planners, HMP and prison visitors - just not the people who have to live near it!

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WiredPotter, Great Sankey says...
10:58am Tue 7 Oct 08

Willy - don't let the magic word "jobs" be the carrot that allows the powers that be to sneak this through. I want my kids to have skilled, well-paid careers that would have gone hand-in-hand with what "Omega" promised. Whilst valuable and essential, Prison jobs are not well-paid or what was promised when Omega was launched.

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LJ, Westbrook says...
11:46am Tue 7 Oct 08

WiredPotter wrote:
Willy - don't let the magic word "jobs" be the carrot that allows the powers that be to sneak this through. I want my kids to have skilled, well-paid careers that would have gone hand-in-hand with what "Omega" promised. Whilst valuable and essential, Prison jobs are not well-paid or what was promised when Omega was launched.
Think your in cloud cuckoo land! Skilled, well paid careers are almost a thing of the past, certainly in industry. Prison jobs are quite well paid (I have 3 relatives who are officers) and secure. When Omega was launched I don't think anyone would have envisaged the current financial crisis and I think you maybe confusing promises with plans. It would have been fantastic had everything gone to plan, but we cannot underestimate the current crisis and the effect it is having on jobs. We all want the best for our children but its now a case of - if you can't have what you want, want what you can have!

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WiredPotter, Great Sankey says...
12:08pm Tue 7 Oct 08

If skilled well-paid jobs are a thing of the past, then how are people earning the money to pay for the big cars and houses that we see in Westbrook, Chapelford, Whittle Hall, Sankey, Butts Green and other areas?! Are they commuting elsewhere? Maybe if proper industry was attracted to the area then people wouldn't have to! Are we going to become so desperate that we'll even welcome a nuclear re-processing plant on our doorstep? Maybe the prisoners could be "rehabilitated" there? That would maybe "kill" two (jail)birds with one stone!

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LJ, Westbrook says...
1:55pm Tue 7 Oct 08

WiredPotter wrote:
If skilled well-paid jobs are a thing of the past, then how are people earning the money to pay for the big cars and houses that we see in Westbrook, Chapelford, Whittle Hall, Sankey, Butts Green and other areas?! Are they commuting elsewhere? Maybe if proper industry was attracted to the area then people wouldn't have to! Are we going to become so desperate that we'll even welcome a nuclear re-processing plant on our doorstep? Maybe the prisoners could be "rehabilitated" there? That would maybe "kill" two (jail)birds with one stone!
Ever wondered how many of the big cars and houses in Westbrook etc are actually paid for? How many people in this area are in negative equity? I would suspect most of the apartments are for a start. And what do you call proper industry? Most of it went to China years ago. Since then we have relied too heavily on the finance sector, which has now crashed. Unless we can revive some of our old manufacturing base by imposing high import taxes on goods from overseas, and by putting pressure on retailers to sell goods produced in the UK, we don't stand a chance. Also, as a business owner with my husband in Warrington, I know that prisons are desperate for businesses to operate from their sites to provide jobs for inmates as part of their rehabilitation. From little acorns...

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WiredPotter, Great Sankey says...
2:44pm Tue 7 Oct 08

LJ - I don't get your point re: cars and houses. Regardless of their worth now, they're still paid for by people's good salaries - even if they go to pay loans etc. I actually work in manufacturing - in a town that is clinging to it's dwindling traditional past (Widnes), so I know about what happens when there is nothing to replace traditional jobs. But Warrington has developed on the back of being able to attract new companies and industries with opportunities galore - and attract people to live there because it's comparitively safe and pleasant. I originally come from an area that has failed to adapt to losing it's once staple industry (The Potteries) and the only jobs there now are Warehousing and call-centre "McJobs" - thats why I live and work away from my birthplace. What Warrington needs is the same creative thinking and enterprise that sparked it's re-generation and growth in the 80's. Not quick-fixes like accepting hulking mega-jails and being grateful for it like Victorian paupers.

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sickandtired, Sankey says...
4:13pm Tue 7 Oct 08

So the "Omega Opportunity" supposedly the town's pinnacle business development which has been in the pipeline for nearly 30 years has come to this??

Fantastic advert for the "Omega Opportunity".. Smacks of desparation by the developers and a convenient location for the government while the residents of Warrington are left shafted..

What a great advert for the town to have huge prison visible from the motorways..

Let's have done with this farce of a project and turn one of the last remaining expanses of land into a park and nature reserve for the good of the people and not another revenue generator in an already hugely over developed part of the town.

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Legendary Lady, Great Sankey says...
8:10pm Tue 7 Oct 08

At the end of the day whether you have a big house, new car, mortgages upto the hilt or are a drug dealer, sex offender etc makes no difference. You will all be complaining with you read in the paper about criminals who have been given non-custodial sentences. I live very close to the Omega site and would welcome the prison into the area. I would love to work there rather than have to travel to Preston every day to work in a Prison. Remember, these criminals are someones mother, father, brother, sister etc, they too have families and just because they are "behind bars" does not make them an less a person. Posh houses and posh cars or not, that is just an elitist and naive attitude and one that won't win the argument for you. Welcome to the "real" society.

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WiredPotter, Great Sankey says...
3:04pm Wed 8 Oct 08

'Lady - I'm sorry, but like LJ you've got completely strung out on the cars and houses thing and missed the point I was trying to make. By the way - I don't have a big new car or house either. Oh and my wife is about to be made redundant as well - so please don't patronise me about "the real society". I also know what it feels like to have to travel to a job - but I can assure you I still wouldn't want a) A textile factory or b) A chemical plant on my doorstep (or a Titan prison), just because it's convenient for me to walk to my workplace. I'm not that selfish. In my time living in Warrington I've also been a victim of car and house theft - so I'm sorry, if criminals feel like "lesser people" then that should be part of the punishment due for causing grief and expense to law-abiding home-owners. If you want to get a feel for "the real society", then I suggest you come along to the next meeting about this issue and see what the mood really is among what I suspect is the majority of residents.

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The Resident, Warrington says...
5:09pm Wed 8 Oct 08

See all the NIMBYS are out in force with this one.
I think it is good for Warrington that they have chosen us to have this prison and it is even better where they plan to build it easy motorway access for visitors.
Insurance premiums will rise in the Westbrook area but they can afford it and I don't suppose they would have been queuing up to complain if it had been being built in Latchford or Orford.
The jobs boost for the town as well .
Don't understand what all the fuss is myself !

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incredulous, Warrington says...
9:10pm Wed 8 Oct 08

So your telling me that the best place for a massive prison housing category A inmates is within yards of a 2,000 plus student high school? Get a grip!

There must be a site where inmates won't be released and share a bus stop with all the kids!

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Billy Porter, Houghton Green says...
12:31am Thu 9 Oct 08

Yup, it's paedogeddon already.

See there's a couple of news items re the other prison in Warrington, just to remind everyone that we already have one (most of you may have forgotten, such is the level of disruption it brings).

Oh, and while I'm here, a, er, friend of mine asked me to point out that the wonka in post #1 is in no way related to the other wonka that used to post on the other site.

Thanks



My "security word" for this post was "drug-lord": way to go, people.

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WiredPotter, Great Sankey says...
11:16am Thu 9 Oct 08

The Resident wrote:
See all the NIMBYS are out in force with this one. I think it is good for Warrington that they have chosen us to have this prison and it is even better where they plan to build it easy motorway access for visitors. Insurance premiums will rise in the Westbrook area but they can afford it and I don't suppose they would have been queuing up to complain if it had been being built in Latchford or Orford. The jobs boost for the town as well . Don't understand what all the fuss is myself !
And of course the "SCINNU's"* can be blasé as usual becasue it won't affect them - eh, "Resident"? As said before - it can be built behind your house then can it? Do the words "fishing" or "troll" mean anything to you?



*"Smug Cos It's Not Near Us".

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Save_Warrington, Whittle Hall says...
10:40pm Sun 12 Oct 08

You have areas like Wrexham in North Wales who want a Prison and have old factory sites with space and you have
Warrington Omega next to housing and schools who don't want it.

The Prison will take up 12% of the land and create 750 jobs but this is a fraction of the jobs that will be created over the next 25/30 years on the planned high tech park. How many large corporates want a postcode or address near 2,500 prisoners ?

Please sign the petition at :

http://petitions.num
ber10.gov.uk/Warring
tonPrison/


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The packed hall Many residents were left outside

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Many residents were left outside



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