Are Prisons an Asset !

Plans have been announced to build a new prison on vacant land at Kembla Grange in the city of Wollongong.  The idea is having a mixed reception as nearby residents ponder whether it will increase or decrease land values and what sort of danger the concentration of convicted criminals housed in the community will deliver.

Prison is supposed to be a place of rehabilitation, where prisoners learn the error of their ways and earn privileges on the way to their release.  The newly convicted start their prison life in maximum security and are constantly moved to break dangerous relationships, but these conditions are slowly relaxed as their time of release nears.   Usually, they are allowed day release so prisoners are  accustomed to earning a living before the prison gates shut behind them and they re-enter the community on parole.

New South Wales has been experimenting with what are called " Pop-up Prisons " and it is unclear if that is what is proposed for Kembla Grange.  In that concept each prison group lives in " pods " in which about twenty-five prisoners experience communal living.   There are no individual cells and prisoners are collectively housed together with individual living space which contains a bed, toilet, desk and audio screen.  There are no doors and prisoners are free to move about within such pods, but the arrangement is overseen by guards on a mezzanine floor which overlooks each pod.

In the distant past prisons usually used inmates for tasks such as stamping out car number plates or in some jurisdictions, working on chain gangs to create new roads.   Today, the emphasis is on education and improving the prisoners ability to earn a living.   Very few are serving a sentence which requires them to die in jail and so even the worst offenders will eventually serve in the general prison population.

Rehabilitation is enhanced if a strong bond exists with loved ones and the ability to receive visits is important.  Having a prison in a city with road and rail links to the rest of the state is far preferable than a remote country location where such visits are difficult.  Being transferred to a prison near family can be an important reward for continuing good behaviour.

Many communities regard a nearby prison as a desirable asset.   It is a good source of well paid jobs and usually prison officers reside locally.   The needs of such an institution provide a wealth of work and supply for the various industries of the region and so a prison presence is favoured locally.  If this new prison is rejected by Wollongong it will be eagerly sought by other municipalities.

The only thing surprising is that the prison location is on the Kembla Grange flood plain which is also attracting new housing.  If global warming results in rising sea levels this will be the first part of the Illawarra to face inundation.  It does beg the question as to whether state planning takes global warming dangers seriously.