Prison north of Bristol could soon expand to help overcrowding crisis
HMP Leyhill was established in the 1940s
A prison in the countryside north of Bristol could soon expand to help with the national overcrowding crisis. But after three prisoners recently absconded, there are concerns that increasing the number of inmates staying there could impact local residents living nearby.
HM Prison Leyhill is located in between the M5 motorway and Charfield. The Ministry of Justice has applied to South Gloucestershire Council for planning permission to build two blocks, each two storeys tall, to house 120 prisoners, as well as a healthcare unit, workshop, boiler house and offender management unit.
Established in the 1940s, the open prison houses inmates towards the end of their sentences, with a focus on rehabilitation and preparing for release. Three prisoners recently absconded, meaning they left without authorisation and failed to return. Councillors on the development management committee will vote on whether to permit the plans on Thursday, March 5.
In planning documents, architects said: “The project aligns with the Ministry of Justice’s strategic goals to ensure that prisons offer safe, productive and decent living and working environments, safeguard the public from offender-related harm, diminish reoffending rates, and enhance the prospects for offenders.”
According to a council planning officer report, Cromhall Parish Council is objecting to the plans. This would increase the inmate population at the prison “with a history of absconds”, raising fears that the local community faces a greater risk of crime. However no local residents commented on a public consultation about the planned expansion.
There is a national shortage of places in prisons and overcrowding. Tens of thousands of prisoners have been released early, and the government has reduced the automatic release point from 50 per cent of sentences to 40 per cent for many offenders. Last December the government said it was pressing ahead with “the biggest jail expansion since the Victorian era”.
HMP Leyhill was previously a wartime hospital, before opening as a prison in 1946. The prison was then rebuilt in the late 1970s and early 1980s. There is currently a capacity of around 500 inmates, but over the next few years this could gradually increase to more than 800.