Auckland Prison’s fast-track expansion plans catch locals off guard

Residents near the country’s maximum security jail are writing to MPs and councillors as they take issue with plans to expand the prison.

Auckland Prison at Paremoremo, under Auckland’s Unitary Plan, is designated to hold up to 681 inmates.

The Department of Corrections, under the fast-track legislation, is seeking to change that to 1120 inmates.

It would be for up to 960 low to high security prisoners, and 260 maximum security.

There are no immediate funding decisions, but Corrections said a designation increase would let it plan, design and eventually build.

The department said the country’s prison population is rising and it had a responsibility to manage it safely.

But residents say they were only notified in July and the plans break earlier promises.

“The Department of Corrections back in 1988 and 1994 gave us reassurance there would be no further increase in numbers from the present restrictions of 680, we’ve got that in writing, a lot of people have bought properties in the area on the understanding that that’s the status quo,” Andy Riley, from the Paremoremo Ratepayers and Residents Association, said.

He said the community was blindsided and feel frustrated.

“It didn’t come out and have that discussion with us to say this is what we want to do, it just came, and then suddenly we get a letter in July saying this is what we want to do and since then we’ve all been rushing around to try and find out what it means to the general public here,” Riley said.

The Ratepayers and Residents Association cites traffic, sewage and other impacts as some of its issues.

A Corrections document said new security facilities like prisoner accommodation and gatehouses would be within a secure perimeter.

It also plans to bring in a maximum building coverage to “provide certainty that not all of the land within the site would be occupied by buildings”.

“To be fair to the Department of Corrections, they have engaged but the more we look at it, the more we feel that it’s a fait accompli than anything else,” Riley said.

A prison population increase would mean pressure on the roads, higher staff numbers and more visitors, he said.

“We’ve lived with the prison for many, many years and we don’t find the prison at its level at this moment a nuisance, it is where we live and we don’t feel that there’s a threat to us at all, in fact it’s a very safe environment, one of the safest in New Zealand I would suggest,” Riley said.

“But it’s just the added capacity, we’ve had promises which stated they wouldn’t go further, well, now they’re talking about doubling it.”

Corrections has already completed technical work it says has used a number of experts for the likes or noise, light, traffic and infrastructure.

Riley said the Ratepayers and Residents Association wanted to work with everyone.

“We don’t want to make a dogfight or anything else like that, but the pressures that are being thrown at us at the moment without the chance of being able to talk back at it, I mean yes we are consulting with the Department of Corrections at the moment but when it comes to the actual decision making we’re not being called upon to take part in that,” Riley said.

What Corrections wants to do

What Corrections says about residents’ concerns

“We are engaging with local residents and stakeholders on this proposal to increase the designation, to get their feedback and understand how we could potentially mitigate any concerns of raising the prison’s population to this level,” a Corrections spokesperson said.

“If this proposal goes ahead, it would provide a baseline for us to plan, design and build capacity for the prison before it could house more prisoners. There are no immediate investment plans for this and no decisions have yet been made, with any potential construction expected to be delivered in stages over several years.”

rnz.co.nz