CESSNOCK MP Clayton Barr says he will still fight the state government on controversial plans to expand the city’s jail, despite a commitment to build another entrance away from homes.
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It comes after Corrective Services NSW sent the clearest signal yet it will buckle to community pressure on the entrance, revealing it planned to submit a development application for a new one. The current entrance, on Lindsay Street, has long been criticised for its traffic problems. Those problems are set to get worse when the inmate population explodes from 800 to 1800 prisoners.
Mr Barr said on Friday the government’s concession wasn’t good enough.
“It doesn’t allay the community’s fears,” he said. “One of the biggest fears about an increase in prisoners is the drain on our police resources. [The new entrance] is only the first outside the fence issue to be addressed.”
