Calls For New Jail To Come With Community Improvements

There are calls for community improvements to come with the building of a massive new prison near Market Harborough.

Cllr Phil Knowles, Leader of Harborough District Council, wants to ensure the Ministry of Justice invest in the area around HMP Gartree, where the 1700-inmate jail will be built.

How the new prison will look

He has requested a meeting with the government official who gave the go-ahead the prison in November, and asked him to visit in-person.

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, granted planning permission in November, overruling the council’s decision to refuse the building of the jail.

The council decided not to appeal the decision after receiving legal advice that any challenge would not be successful.

Cllr Knowles spoke to HFM: