SIR: A recent aerial photo of Winchester Prison showed how large a site it occupies. It made me wonder why there are no proposals to redevelop the site for housing. The city council is currently consulting on housing plans for the future and a number of sites being discussed are very controversial. Being centrally located, the prison would be an ideal site for housing and likely to be far more acceptable than other locations.
Meanwhile, by all accounts, living conditions in the prison fall below acceptable standards and significant investment is needed. The sale of the prison would generate significant funds that could be used to build a new prison in a less expensive location - a win-win result.
There may be a similar argument for the hospital site if plans to relocate to Basingstoke go ahead?
Nick Rogerson,
Oaklands Close,
Winchester
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