Jail selection called ‘sham’

Emails show push for site, say foes

A GROUP opposed to a prison in Westbury have said emails show the town was earmarked for the project “long” before an official process to choose the preferred site began.

Correspondence obtained by members of the Westbury Region Against the Prison group under Right to Information, and seen by the Mercury, shows now former Meander Valley Council general manager Martin Gill writing to councillors about the issue.

In an email dated September 12 last year, Mr Gill said he first met with the Department of Justice in May 2018.

“At that point DOJ showed me the concept designs for the new prison and we discussed the strategic outcomes they were trying to achieve,’’ Mr Gill wrote.

“This insight helped me prepare the EOI and to target some specific sites.

“I approached the landowner in September [2018] and I have been working closely with them through the EOI assessment and due diligence process.”

In another email dated November 22, 2018, Mr Gill wrote that two potential sites were “flagged and discussed with Department of Justice prior to the EOI process”.

The EOI process officially began in September 2018 and ran for two months. In September last year, Westbury was announced as the preferred site for the proposed $270 million northern regional prison.

The announcement sparked protests from the community. Residents said they had not been consulted and raised concerns about safety and potential falling property values. Consultation with the community began after Westbury was announced as the preferred site.

Linda Poulton, president of the opposition group, said the emails showed what group members had suspected for months.

“It appears that Westbury was earmarked by the State Government for the prison a long time before the EOI process even began,’’ she said.

“The EOI process has been a complete and utter sham aimed at covering up the fact that the Department of Justice has always wanted this site for the prison, and just had to figure out a politically convenient way to get hold of it. But it’s all starting to unravel now.”

A Meander Valley Council spokeswoman said “informal discussions” occurred in 2018 about the suitability of private land in the area as a potential location for the Government to consider in its process.

Two expressions of interest were submitted by Mr Gill on behalf of private landowners in November 2018, the spokeswoman said.

A government spokesman said the “department first met with the council regarding a site on 28 August 2019”.

“The Government did not have Westbury in mind as a preferred site prior to the EOI process, which officially began on 20 September 2018 and ended on 22 November 2018.”