Mental health unit will still go ahead despite prison plan (From Echo)
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Mental health unit will still go ahead despite prison plan
12:10am Wednesday 29th April 2009 in
A NEW mental health unit at Runwell Hospital will still go ahead despite a new prison being approved there.
Bosses at the South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said current building work on the new unit, to house new forensic and low security wards, will continue.
Originally the facility was planned to be built on the hospital site in Runwell Road, Wickford, alongside 600 new homes and a primary school.
But on Monday, Justice Minister Jack Straw revealed the site had now been chosen to house one of five new jails in England and Wales, holding up to 1,500 prisoners.
The new unit will now stand alongside the new prison.
Yet politicians and residents are still reeling about the prison plan.
Rayleigh Tory MP Mark Francois, whose constituency includes Runwell, said the announcement came “out of the blue”.
He said: “I have never been consulted about this at all and neither, as far as I know, have any of my constituents.
“I was present for the statement on Monday and immediately afterwards I caught up with both Jack Straw and the prisons minister, David Hanson, to protest at how this has been handled.
“I took the opportunity to explain directly to the two ministers that the history surrounding the old Runwell Hospital site is very complicated and that – after many years of debate – the local community were now expecting the new mental health unit to be built on the site, alongside plans for some 600 homes and a new primary school.
“They were not expecting a prison instead.”
Comments(5)
Soozie
says...
8:09am Wed 29 Apr 09
Lord knows if you have a prison, gypsy camps, more homes squashed in - well I'd be ready for the loony bin too! And within walking distance.
Winston Smith
says...
8:54am Wed 29 Apr 09
What is disgusting is these New Liebour pigs in government just dumping on Wickford all the time and over ruling our local representatives.
First they dumped a new housing estate on Barn Hall's greenbelt. Then they decided to build hundreds of flats in the town centre with zero infrastructure to support the new population, and now without any consultation at all they dump a blo0dy great prison on Wickford.
The sooner these corrupt, snouts-in-the-trough
, migrant-loving, British-hating, politically-correct, parasites who are running our once great country into the dirt are thrown out and hanging from the lampposts of Westminster as traitors, the better.
Ian P
says...
12:49pm Wed 29 Apr 09
Unfortunately, many of the people did not vote for this evil Government last time, or the time before or the time before that but they still managed to get voted in three times on the trot somehow.
EnglishPatriot
says...
8:40am Sun 3 May 09
, migrant-loving, British-hating, politically-correct, parasites who are running our once great country into the dirt are thrown out and hanging from the lampposts of Westminster as traitors, the better.'
Say what you mean Win - don't hold back!!! :-)
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fletch12107 says...
7:26am Wed 29 Apr 09
Why when we have all that space on Foulness and Maplin Sands cant we have mental health hospitals,prisons,ai
rport,shipping port,gypsy camps and other contraversial areas there? Is it still because of some birds and other wildlife because if it is they will relocate.
All hard working law abiding decent people want is to go home to an area where they feel safe and have a nice outlook.Come on all you planners in govt listen to the people that may not be voting for you next time round.