Angela Rayner forces through plan for 'super-prison' with 1,700 inmates on green belt despite local opposition and three YEARS after local council rejected it
Daily MailAngela Rayner has pushed through plans for a 'super-prison' on greenbelt land more than three years after the scheme was rejected by locals. The Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary has approved the building of a jail holding 1,700 lags near Chorley in Lancashire, despite fears inmates would outnumber the population of local villages. But Ms Rayner overruled objections saying harms including the loss of green belt would 'clearly be outweighed by the benefits' and that 'very special circumstances exist which justify approval', the BBC reported. Whitehall's spending watchdog warned earlier this week that Government plans to boost prison capacity could fall short by thousands of cell spaces within two years and cost the taxpayer billions of pounds more than anticipated. It is close to two current prisons, HMP Garth and HMP Wymott In a letter announcing the decision, the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government said Ms Rayner was over-ruling a planning inspector who said the rejection by Choley Council should not be challenged.
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