There has been speculation for some time as to whether or not the Wrexham site would be included in the shortlist, which has been long awaited and was eventually published yesterday (Wednesday, August 6) by prisons minister and Delyn MP David Hanson.

The site is named along with sites in Caernarfon, Merthyr Tydfil and Cwmbran. A consultation period has now begun and interested parties have until October 31 to comment.

The minister said that any further sites which are put forward in response to the consultation will be investigated if they are considered to have potential, and a final decision on a proposed site will be made once all the feedback has been considered.

Mr Hanson said: "I have been pleased with the constructive comments about the possible location of a new prison in Wales which have been received already and I look forward to receiving comments on the shortlist. This is an opportunity for any interested party to comment on the suitability of the proposed site for any development."

The Ministry of Justice has admitted that there is an overall shortage of about 1,300 prison places in Wales. An expansion at HMP Parc will provide some of these places but in the longer term, the ministry wants to provide an extra 1,000 places in Wales, eventually increasing to 1,700. There are currently five prisons in Wales, but all are in the south

Wrexham MP Ian Lucas said he will not support the proposal for a prison on the site, on Wrexham Industrial Estate.

"This is the wrong site for a North Wales prison for many reasons," said Mr Lucas "First, the site is as far away as it can be within North Wales from the main court centre at Caernarfon.

"The proposed site is very close to the English border and will not cut journey times for those currently travelling to North West England from North West Wales – one of the reasons why I had hoped a site in central North Wales would have been on the shortlist.

"Second, the current transport links are poor. The site is on an industrial estate away from the town centre with poor public transport connections.

"Although there has been a long-running campaign to upgrade the road access to the industrial estate, we are still at the planning stage.

"Thirdly, we should be attracting industry to Wrexham's Industrial Estate.

"Fourth, there are other parts of Wales with far higher unemployment rates than Wrexham that would benefit from public investment of this nature."

Mr Lucas said he will be writing to the Ministry of Justice once more as part of the formal consultation process and opposing a prison in Wrexham.

Following the publication of the shortlist, Wrexham Council's chief executive, Isobel Garner, said: "Now that we are aware of which sites are being considered by the Prison Service we can begin discussions and consultations with council members and our partners on what are the implications for Wrexham should the Firestone site be selected.

"We have until October 31 to send our responses back to Her Majesty's Prison Service and we will do so through the proper channels."
Last November, North Wales Criminal Justice Board concluded that, wherever the prison is sited, it will mean a multi-million pound economic bonanza for that region.

According to a study conducted by Iolo Madoc-Jones, principal lecturer in the criminal justice and social welfare department at Glyndwr University, Wrexham, a prison would also lead to a big reduction in crime in the immediate vicinity.

His report suggested that a prison leads to 'significant benefits' to the local economy. The construction phase of the prison alone would generate 850 jobs – 230 in the immediate area and another 620 in the region as a whole.

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