“This proposal came totally out of the blue yesterday afternoon and I am extremely annoyed about how it has been handled.
With typical Labour spin, the Government had leaked an announcement on the Radio 4 Today programme early yesterday morning but without mentioning any specific sites and it only became clear that Runwell was one of the proposed locations when the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, announced it in the Commons in mid-afternoon. I was actually told about this literally five minutes before Jack Straw stood up.
I have never been consulted about this at all and neither, as far as I know, have any of my constituents. I was present for the statement and immediately afterwards I caught up with both Jack Straw and the Prisons Minister, David Hanson, to protest at how this has been handled.
I took the opportunity to explain directly to the two Ministers that the history surrounding the old Runwell Hospital site is very complicated and that - after many years of debate - the local community were now expecting the new mental health unit to be built on the site, alongside plans for some 600 homes and a new primary school. They were not expecting a prison instead.
I will now take soundings among my constituents about their reactions to this proposal but if it turns out that my constituents are strongly opposed to this idea then I will support them. As I understand it the proposal will be subject to planning approval by Chelmsford Borough Council and I hope they will take the feelings of the community into account in any decision they make on this.”
