Appeal made by Ministry of Justice land adjacent to HMP Springhill and HMP Grendon, Springhill road, Grendon Underwood HP18 0TL Application REF: 21/02851/AOP

www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

The Secretary of State has said that consideration has been given to the report of Lesley Coffey BA(Hons) BTP MRTPI, who held a public local inquiry which opened on 24 January 2023 into your client’s appeal against the decision of Buckinghamshire Council to refuse your client’s application for planning permission for the construction of a new Category C prison (up to 67,000 sqm GEA) within a secure perimeter fence, together with access, parking, landscaping and associated engineering works on land adjacent to HMP Grendon and HMP Springhill, Grendon Underwood, Edgcott, in accordance with application Ref. 21/02851/AOP, dated 21 June 2021.

The Appeal concluded on 30th January 2024

The Inspector recommended that the appeal be allowed and planning permission granted subject to conditions.

Anti-Mega Prison Campaign.

TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 APPEAL UNDER SECTION 78

The MoJ Mega-Prison Appeal concluded 3rd February 2023.The appeal was against - Buckinghamshire Council

For - refusal of outline planning permission (ref. 21/02851/AOP)

Appellant(s) name - Ministry of Justice

Application Ref: 21/02851/AOP Appeal Ref: 22/00125/REF

Planning Inspectorate Ref: APP/J0405/W/22/3307860

The Prison Working Group would like to express a special thank you to our speakers; Greg Smith MP, Buckinghamshire Council, Cllr MacPherson, Grendon Underwood Parish Council, Cllr Jackman, Edgcott Parish Council, Cllr Harper, Daniel Hayes (Prison Sustainability) and Mike Spence (Visual Impact). It was also heartening to see the public turn out on the first day and continued representation by residents throughout the 10 days of the Appeal Hearing. Now, all we can do is await the Inspector's recommendation to the Secretary of State which will be used to inform his final decision.

The decision in question was made at a meeting of the Buckinghamshire Council Strategic Sites Committee held 24th March 2022. The decision was unanimous to refuse. GUPC would like to thank all speakers and supporters.

The full session is available to view at https://buckinghamshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/658191/start_time/120000/tab/feedback

The Appellant's Statement of Case [the grounds for their appeal] can be seen here

The Local Planning Authority Statement of Case can be seen here.

Completely separately, the MoJ have also submitted an application to increase the capacity of a current prison by 120 prisoners in two new, two storey building blocks, extending the car park and associated ancillary works.

Look out for application 22/01899/APP & 22/01900/ALB on the Planning Portal - HMP Springhill - link on the Parish Council/Planning tab above.
We urge you to submit your own objections and are very happy for you to refer to ours here
Thank you to all who contacted us about the above planning application. We have taken onboard your concerns and have submitted our objection via the online planning portal. We are working very closely with Edgcott PC who have also submitted an objection to Buckinghamshire Council.

In addition to giving notice of their intention to appeal the decision of the Buckinghamshire County Strategic Sites Committee to refuse the Mega-Prison, the MoJ have now submitted a separate application to increase the capacity of a current prison by 120 prisoners in two new, two storey building blocks, extending the car park and associated ancillary works.

Look out for application 22/01899/APP & 22/01900/ALB on the Planning Portal - HMP Springhill - link on the Parish Council/Planning tab above.
We urge you to submit your own objections and are very happy for you to refer to ours here

Thank you to all who contacted us about the above planning application. We have taken onboard your concerns and have submitted our objection via the online planning portal as of 6th July 22. (takes several days to appear online). We are working very closely with Edgcott PC who are also submitting an objection to Buckinghamshire Council.

Meeting of Strategic Sites Committee of Buckinghamshire Council at the Buckinghamshire Council offices at the Gateway, Aylesbury.

Thursday, 24th March 2022 @ 14.00. DECISION: to refuse; unanimous.

The full session is available to view athttps://buckinghamshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/658191/start_time/120000/tab/feedback

GUPC would like to thank all speakers making representation to oppose the OPA. These were:

Greg Smith MP

Buckinghamshire Council - Cllr Angela Macpherson, GU Ward

Buckinghamshire Council - Cllr Frank Mahon, GU Ward

Buckinghamshire Council - Cllr Michael Rand, GU Ward.

Grendon Underwood Parish Council - Cllr Paul Jackman.

Edgcott Parish Council - Cllr Peter Harper.

Objectors representative – Dr R. Baker, Chairman, Prison Working Group

The Parish Councils of Grendon Underwood, Edgcott & Steeple Claydon held 3 open public drop in sessions to provide information and guidance on how to object and provide objection grounds that the Planning Committee of the Local Planning Authority [Buckinghamshire County Council].

On 4th August the Prison Working Group hosted an open public exhibition of ways to object in the Grendon Underwood Village Hall: a far better attendance than was expected, much discussion & lots of commitment to object.

On 6th August the Prison Working Group hosted an open public exhibition of ways to object in the Edgcott Village Hall: another well attended event, lots of information gathering and advice on well structured objections.

On 10th August the Prison Working Group hosted an open public exhibition of ways to object in the Steeple Claydon Village Hall: another wonderful turnout. 

Thanks to all who came along, all volunteers, Greg Smith, MP, Angela Macpherson, Bucks County Councillor and Frank Mahon, Bucks County Councillor.

Using the information sheets below, make your objections as soon as possible now to give your views the best chance of consideration at Committee -

BUT NO LATER THAN 3rd SEPTEMBER 2021.

Information sheets can be accessed below. It is important to keep your objections focused on some or all of the information provided.

In addition, Planning-specific grounds for objection are summarised in the Summary Sheets below. These are the ones made available at the drop-in sessions and will give you an overview of the grounds on which objections should be focused. 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR TAKING EXTRACTS FROM THE INFORMATION SHEETS

1. If you want to extract text only from any of the Information Sheets you can do this directly after opening the Sheet(s) that you want to use, by using copy and paste
2. However, if you want to copy any of the images or tables in any of the Information Sheets, download and save the Sheet(s) you want to your computer
3. You can then copy and paste from the saved Sheet into a Word document as usual

Photos Available for Use in Objections

Please feel free to use any of the photos in the Visual Impact documents below to highlight aspects of your objections. The document will need to be saved to your computer and then the images can be copied and pasted into a Word document in the usual manner. Some of the photos may be helpful in highlighting how visible the new mega prison would be from different locations and how narrow and close to the road that some of the footpaths are located.

NEW MEGA PRISON IN GRENDON UNDERWOOD! - CAMPAIGN STATUS

PHASE II

The Planning Authority window for objections closed on 3rd September. Their decision is expected imminently. To see the final list of objections go to the Planning Portal click here. and click on Documents.

On 25th August 2021 the Grendon Underwood Parish Council response to the MoJ Outline Planning Application was submitted to the Buckinghamshire Planning Officer.

On 18th August 2021 the Edgcott Parish Council response to the MoJ Outline Planning Application was submitted to the Buckinghamshire Planning Officer.

On 16th August Greg Smith MP spoke with Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber who advised serious risk to Thames Valley Police resource. You can see it here.

Three open, public drop-in sessions were organised by the Parish councils and held on 4th, 6th & 10th August in Grendon Underwood, Edgcott & Steeple Claydon Village Halls. They were all very well attended so thanks to all who came and supported, including volunteers, Greg Smith, MP, Cllrs Angela Macpherson & Frank Mahon, Buckinghamshire County for Grendon Underwood & Edgcott.

You can download the MoJ flyover of Five Wells displayed at the exhibitions- what they are proposing to build here.

On 22nd July, our MP, Greg Smith spoke in Parliament and you can see it here.

On 21st July the Prison Working Group called an open remote meeting co-hosted by Greg Smith MP.

Use this link to watch the meeting in full:https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dropbox.com%2Fsh%2Fzlo9qowbweu629d%2FAADPyoF5Jov-SjlUb3MFvS7Ra%3Fdl%3D0&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cd4acf7a2c56d41f941d908d94dc5dfa4%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637626334515453357%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=7HdB%2FnEjB8KSvEmCua7qNkl3DKqGG8x%2F%2BPkOV8AmTxI%3D&reserved=0

The presentation given at the meeting can be viewed separately here.

On 14th July, the Parish Councils requested an extension to the statutory response time of 21 days from posting of notices.

On 13th July the Prison Working Group has called a meeting at which all 3 of our Buckinghamshire Councillors will attend.

On 12th July 2021 Outline Planning Application 21/02851/AOP was published to the Bucks AVDC Planning Simple Search site and the GUPC Planning page on this site, setting a closing date for objections at 9th August 2021. The MoJ have submitted 55 supporting documents and you can access these on either of these sites.

On 5th July 2021 Buckinghamshire Council formally recorded receipt of the OPA and also validated it on 5th July.

On 28th June 2021 this press release was released to the Sunday Times, the Guardian, BBC Home Affairs and the Bucks Herald.

On 22nd June 2021 the MoJ advised they had submitted an OPA on 21st June 2021 to Buckinghamshire Council. You can see the MoJ letter here.

Please look out on social media and this web site for more information on leaflet drops & event dates describing how the campaign will ramp up from here on in.

NEW MEGA PRISON IN GRENDON UNDERWOOD! - CAMPAIGN STATUS

PHASE II

The Planning Authority window for objections closed on 3rd September. Their decision is expected imminently. To see the final list of objections go to the Planning Portal click here. and click on Documents.

On 25th August 2021 the Grendon Underwood Parish Council response to the MoJ Outline Planning Application was submitted to the Buckinghamshire Planning Officer.

On 18th August 2021 the Edgcott Parish Council response to the MoJ Outline Planning Application was submitted to the Buckinghamshire Planning Officer.

On 16th August Greg Smith MP spoke with Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber who advised serious risk to Thames Valley Police resource. You can see it here.

Three open, public drop-in sessions were organised by the Parish councils and held on 4th, 6th & 10th August in Grendon Underwood, Edgcott & Steeple Claydon Village Halls. They were all very well attended so thanks to all who came and supported, including volunteers, Greg Smith, MP, Cllrs Angela Macpherson & Frank Mahon, Buckinghamshire County for Grendon Underwood & Edgcott.

You can download the MoJ flyover of Five Wells displayed at the exhibitions- what they are proposing to build here.

On 22nd July, our MP, Greg Smith spoke in Parliament and you can see it here.

On 21st July the Prison Working Group called an open remote meeting co-hosted by Greg Smith MP.

Use this link to watch the meeting in full:https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dropbox.com%2Fsh%2Fzlo9qowbweu629d%2FAADPyoF5Jov-SjlUb3MFvS7Ra%3Fdl%3D0&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cd4acf7a2c56d41f941d908d94dc5dfa4%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637626334515453357%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=7HdB%2FnEjB8KSvEmCua7qNkl3DKqGG8x%2F%2BPkOV8AmTxI%3D&reserved=0

The presentation given at the meeting can be viewed separately here.

On 14th July, the Parish Councils requested an extension to the statutory response time of 21 days from posting of notices.

On 13th July the Prison Working Group has called a meeting at which all 3 of our Buckinghamshire Councillors will attend.

On 12th July 2021 Outline Planning Application 21/02851/AOP was published to the Bucks AVDC Planning Simple Search site and the GUPC Planning page on this site, setting a closing date for objections at 9th August 2021. The MoJ have submitted 55 supporting documents and you can access these on either of these sites.

On 5th July 2021 Buckinghamshire Council formally recorded receipt of the OPA and also validated it on 5th July.

On 28th June 2021 this press release was released to the Sunday Times, the Guardian, BBC Home Affairs and the Bucks Herald.

On 22nd June 2021 the MoJ advised they had submitted an OPA on 21st June 2021 to Buckinghamshire Council. You can see the MoJ letter here.

Please look out on social media and this web site for more information on leaflet drops & event dates describing how the campaign will ramp up from here on in.

NEW MEGA PRISON IN GRENDON UNDERWOOD! - CAMPAIGN STATUS

PHASE I

21st July 2020 - MoJ give initial briefing to BCC Senior Management & make formal request.

August 2020 - MoJ meet with BCC.

October 2020 - pre-application advice received by BCC; no contact with community.

19th November 2020 - 20/03988/SO Local Planning Authority (BCC) validate MoJ request for BCC to consider the need for an Environment Impact Assessment.

December 2020 - meeting held to discuss landscape & visual impact; responses made subsequently.

3rd December 2020 - MoJ first notify local communities of their intention to build a THIRD prison in Grendon Underwood, this time a 1440 bed Mega Prison, giving till 24th December 2020 for comment, subsequently extended (on 19th December 2020) to 29th January 2021.

7th December 2020 - update meeting to develop the master plan & public consultation with senior representatives of BCC

10th December 2020 - the Parish Council held an open Preliminary Fact Finding Meeting for residents to give their views. In light of UNPRECIDENTED OPPOSITION expressed then, the Council resolved to hold a series of open meeting to keep residents informed of progress.

17th December 2020 - 20/03988/SO BCC Planning decide no Environment Impact Assessment is necessary.

21st December 2020 - further meeting between BCC Senior Management & MoJ.

January 2021 - MoJ meet with BCC Highways.

19th January 2021 - The first open meeting held when the findings of research by residents were presented and the MoJ gave an outline of their proposals. You can you can see it HERE.

25th January 2021 - Buckinghamshire Council held a Cabinet Meeting to discuss the proposal and resolved to oppose. You can watch it HERE.

26th January 2021 - our MP, Greg Smith submits his formal response. You can see this HERE.

27th January 2021 - Buckinghamshire County Council councillors' object. You can see their response HERE.

28th January 2021 - Grendon Underwood Parish Council make its formal response. You can see it HERE.

5th February 2021 - the end of the extended MoJ consultation period - Grendon Underwood & Edgcott Parish Councils formalised a Prison Working Group of local volunteers to develop an opposition strategy.

15th & 16th February 2021 - second & third open meetings held and you can see the recording HERE.

March 2021 - MoJ submit formal request to BCC Highways for Pre-Application advice & meeting held with Highways.

26th March 2021 - MoJ Senior Management meet with BCC representatives .

Minutes of all open meetings & presentations made at them are available on the Meetings page of this site.

As further information comes to hand, times & dates will be posted to this web site. giving as much notice as possible considering the time scales imposed by the Ministry of Justice & the Planning Authority.