Furious villagers have launched legal action to block Angela Rayner’s plans for a ‘super-prison’. The structure will be built on greenbelt land and will hold 1,700 prisoners.
Local residents firmly opposed the plans, fearing the number of inmates would outnumber the population of local villages, yet the deputy prime minister pushed the project through for approval.
The huge structure will be built near Chorley in Lancashire despite the local council objecting to the plans in 2021 for a site in Ulnes Walton, which is close to prisons HMP Garth and HMP Wymott.
However, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary overruled the mass objections, claiming the loss of greenbelt land would “clearly be outweighed by the benefits”. Ms Rayner added that the ‘super-prison’ warrants being built due to the “very special circumstances exist which justify approval”.
A frustrated resident, Andrea Hallows, 49, told MailOnline: “Why they want to build another prison here when they are struggling to run the other two they already have is beyond me.
“They can’t get enough staff to work there as it is and the ones who do can’t control the inmates properly because they are understaffed.
“I believe there is a massive drugs problem and I quite often see drones flying close to the prison. Are they trying to smuggle drugs and other illegal items into prison?”
Another local, 80-year-old Trevor, a retired head chef, explained how the increase of response vehicles is already a disturbance, fearing the new prison will make matters worse.
He said: “There seems to be a lot more trouble there at the weekends.
“You see police vans and fire engines driving down the lane and I can’t imagine they will be going anywhere else but the prison.
“The road is already like a racetrack as it is and will only get worse. There will also be all the wagons and trucks going to the prison when it is being built.”
Local campaign group Ulnes Walton Action Group (UWAG) has now sought leave to appeal against Ms Rayner’s choice to build the jail.
Following this, the Labour minister has 21 days to respond. UWAG will then be given a further two weeks to their rebuttal before it is taken to a judge who will decide if the case should be heard in the High Court.
