A fresh public inquiry into proposals for a new prison on the border of Chorley and Leyland will be reopened to consider new evidence about whether local roads could cope with the development.
A hearing into the proposed 1,700-inmate jail â on land next to the existing HMP Wymott and Garth lock-ups â was first held last summer after the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) appealed against Chorley Councilâs refusal of planning permission for the facility.
As the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed shortly after the proceedings closed, the government decided to take the unusual step of ârecoveringâ the appeal â meaning that the Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, would get the final say over the proposal and not the planning inspector who chaired the inquiry.
It was announced in January that Mr. Gove was âmindedâ to approve the prison plan â in spite of inspector Tom Gilbert-Wooldridge having recommended that it be rejected over road safety concerns and its âharmfulâ impact on the character and appearance of the area. However, the Secretary of State said that he wanted to hear âfurther evidence on highways issuesâ before coming to a final conclusion.
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The move infuriated locals opposed to the development of a third prison in their midst, with the Ulnes Walton Action Group (UWAG) blasting the request for additional information as âbeyond unfairâ and amounting to a further âcrack of the whipâ for the MoJ which, its members claimed, would not have been afforded to residents if the inspectorâs recommendation had gone in the governmentâs favour.
Following representations both by UWAG and Chorley Council, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has now revealed that the inquiry will be reconvened so that the new highways evidence submitted by the MoJ can be âproperly testedâ. The decision will also give campaigners the opportunity to present their own fresh material on the subject.
UWAGâs Emma Curtis said that while the group would have preferred Michael Gove simply to accept the inspectorâs recommendation to refuse the appeal, reopening the inquiry was âthe only fair wayâ forward.
âHighway safety issues are a major concern for the local community and formed a major part of UWAGâs objection to the proposed development â particularly as it was able to demonstrate [that] there are two alternative sites available in the North West which are as good as, if not better than, Ulnes Walton in terms of accessibility and highway safety.
âThe highway safety concern was shared by the independent planning inspector, who cited it as one of the reasons for recommending to the Secretary of State that the appeal be dismissed. The reopening of the inquiry will also provide the opportunity for a thorough examination and testing of the mitigation measures now being put forward by the Ministry of Justice.
âUWAG also expressed concern â again shared by the planning inspector â that the urgent need for these additional prison places had not been adequately demonstrated by the MoJ,â Emma added.
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A message on the groupâs Facebook page confidently declares: âWe can win this.â
The proposed prison would be accessed via Ulnes Walton Lane and Moss Lane, the same route as for the Wymott and Garth jails â although a separate entry point would be created off Moss Lane further north than the existing access, with traffic-calming measures introduced in the vicinity.
Mr. Gilbert-Wooldridgeâs report noted that this section of Moss Lane would see a 322 percent leap in traffic as a result of the new jail, while there would be a 48 percent increase at the roadâs junction with Ulnes Walton Lane.
As part of the plans, changes to the road layout were proposed to address a predicted spike in delays at the another local junction â where Ulnes Walton Lane meets the A581, Southport Road â which are forecast to jump from around 32 seconds currently to over 210 seconds if and when the prison is in operation.
The MoJ has offered to contribute ÂŁ485,000 towards the cost of installing a mini-roundabout at that junction, as requested by highways officials at Lancashire County Council.
However, the inspector highlighted that no design had been provided, nor any modelling undertaken, to determine the effects that it might have on traffic flow along the various approaches.
Mr. Gilbert-Wooldridge found that it had ânot been demonstrated that the works would resolve capacity issuesâ â and, if the new junction proved unable to do so, he concluded that the proposal would have âan unacceptable impact on highway safetyâ.
In his response, local government minister Lee Rowley â acting on behalf of Michael Gove â agreed that the proposed road improvements were âlacking in detailâ â hence the request for additional evidence.
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The DLUHC letter announcing the reopening of the inquiry â on a date yet to be decided â states that highway safety and capacity are âinherentlyâŚtechnical and specialist areasâ that would be able to be properly assessed at a new hearing. However, it also stresses that the reconvened inquiry will not consider new evidence on any other matters that were discussed during the initial session.
South Ribble MP Katherine Fletcher, in whose constituency the new prison would sit, said that she had met with MoJ ministers to make them aware of residentsâ concerns about the application and emphasise âthe problems with the poor road infrastructure and lack of public transportâ.
âI would like to thank everyone who has worked hard to highlight these issues [and] Iâm delighted the Secretary of State has listened and look forward to contributing to the inquiry on behalf of my constituents,â added Ms Fletcher, who has also raised the matter in the Commons.
In response to the inquiry being reopened, a spokesperson for the MoJ said: âThe new prison in Chorley is critical to delivering the 20,000 extra places we need to protect the public by keeping offenders off the streets and turning them away from crime.â
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