31 Aug 2009

Residents fear Auckland Prison could be expanded

3:40 pm on 31 August 2009

Some Paremoremo residents fear the Corrections Department is eyeing Auckland Prison for expansion. The department says it has no immediate plans to do so.

Bob Leveloff, from the Paremoremo Residents and Ratepayers Association, says he has heard from several sources working at Auckland Prison that the department has looked at ways of extending it.

He says one of the options is to do away with the prison village where employees live, and build a psychiatric prison there.

Mr Leveloff says if that happened, it would mean residents would lose their local school, which is in the village.

The Corrections Department says Auckland Prison is not currently being considered for expansion. In a statement, it said the jail is under its maximum capacity of 681 inmates.

Paremoremo residents are not convinced and plan to raise their concerns with local MPs John Key and Murray McCully.