RESIDENTS living next to a £300 million “monster” jail say prisoners will laugh their heads off while locals stare at the prison walls.
The horrified neighbours have slammed a proposal to build a four-storey prison in Gartree, near Market Harborough, Leicestershire.
Times Media LtdResidents David Burden and Jo Asher have slammed the plans[/caption]
Times Media LtdPete Vale owns a small holding near Gartree Prison in Leicestershire[/caption]
Times Media LtdResidents say the prison’s walls will block their views[/caption]
The controversial £300 million jail will sit on a land of the size of sixteen football pitches near the already existing Gartree prison.
But outraged neighbours have blasted against the “dreadful” move and said the 1,700-place male prison will tower them.
Dave Burden, 57, who lives in a house overlooking the building in Welland Avenue, said the building will steal his beautiful view.
The aerospace engineer told The Sun Online: “The prisoners will be laughing their heads off, thinking crime pays, and they’ll have the best view out while we’ll all be looking at big brick walls.
“They’ll have a better life than some people on the outside do.”
Another angry neighbour he added: “The prison will be like Blackpool illuminations. It will light up the sky but not in a pleasant way, it will be awful.
“When I look out of my bedroom window all I will see is the jail, no lambs and sheep. It will be a blot on the landscape.
“It will cause horrendous traffic, the roads are not built for it.”
Plans to erect the Category B building were unanimously rejected by Harborough District Council in April last year.
But the Minister for Levelling Up Michael Gove ruled in favour of the institution when the Ministry of Justice appealed the decision.
Parents are now afraid prisoners in the institution – which can lock up lags for 22 hours-a-day – could sneak through their gardens.
Outraged mum-of-three Karen Grady Dowden fumed: “We are not happy with the decision. Mr Gove kept putting it off and we thought it may go in our favour.
“Killers and sex offenders will be able to see me in the hot tub in my own back garden!
“There will be a huge concrete mess, four storeys high, at the bottom of my beautiful garden. It will suffocate us.”
Kevin, 67, a former road builder for Leicestershire County Council, said his family’s privacy could be compromised.
He blasted: “We’ll see and hear prisoners shouting and it will affect our privacy big time. They’ll see us too.
“I’m retired, I’ve worked hard and my pleasure is sitting in my lovely garden and going in the hot tub.”
However, the Ministry of Justice defended the move and said the institution will address “a significant unmet need” for prison places.
A spokesperson said: “The decision at Gartree is critical to delivering the 20,000 extra places we need to keep dangerous offenders off the streets and will boost the local economy by creating hundreds of new jobs.”
It comes as residents of the planned lockup for lifers also claim their mental health is at risk, views will be wrecked and wildlife killed off.
Times Media LtdThe super prison will be built on the land sitting next to Gartree prison in Leicestershire[/caption]
Times Media LtdDes Smith’s garden backs on to the prison[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
