Ashfield sex offenders to arrive in July
All 400 adult sex offenders to be housed by August
Prison authorities have confirmed that the first adult male sex offenders will arrive at the Ashfield facility in Pucklechurch in July, disappointing local campaigners.
At a meeting this week with council chiefs and local councillors, senior officials at the National Offender Management Service confirmed that plans to convert the young offenders institution to an adult male catergory C sex offenders prison will go ahead unchanged.
And subject to the completion of negotiations with Serco Group plc - the contractors who manage and operate the facility - the first inmates could be transferred as early as 1st July, ramping up to around 60 per week. The prison should reach its full 400 capacity by the end of August.
Local Conservative Boyd Valley councillors Ben Stokes and Steve Reade, who represent Pucklechurch, have been campaigning against the plans on behalf of local people. They invited prison chiefs to a public meeting, carried out a survey of village residents and triggered an emergency vote on the plans at South Gloucestershire Council.
The latest news has disappointed Cllrs Reade and Stokes. They said:
“We’re disappointed that the powers that be are not prepared to revisit these plans because that has been the overwhelming view of local people who have contacted us.
We have been advised that, legally, the prison service is within its rights to change the classification of the prison without consultation so we cannot mount a legal challenge to the plans.
Now that it’s been made clear that these adult male sex offenders are definitely coming to Ashfield, we want a community liaison group to be formed with the prison and for there to be regular meetings to share information to help minimise local anxieties as much as possible.
The Ashfield facility is an important local employer, which makes it even more disappointing that the whole situation has been handled so badly from the very start.”
Chairman of Pucklechurch Parish Council, Bob Symon added:
“In terms of the Parish, the location for this type of prisoner is not ideal. I am though confident that the measures, processes and procedures, including the introduction of a local Liaison Group, will go some way to allay the concerns of the local residents