Proposed prison site in Caernarfon
DEVELOPERS insist asbestos contamination should not have halted the building of a prison in Caernarfon as they vow to develop a “jewel in the crown” housing and leisure project on the site.
The Ministry of Justice withdrew its interest in the former Ferodo site last month following a £200,000 due diligence exercise – stating the site was “unsuitable”.
Last week site owner Bluefield Caernarfon Ltd slammed the ministry over the decision and took the Daily Post on a tour of the site they now want to transform into local and holiday housing on the Menai Strait.
They said asbestos waste on the site is buried in capped clay pits away from the main site and that there was an offer on the table to clear the waste and accept liability if there were backdated compensation claims.
Gary Goodman, the company’s land and planning director, said: “The contamination was a smokescreen and we believe this was a political decision. We met every one of their concerns but they withdrew before ever trying to negotiate. We understand that price and liability for the asbestos were among their reasons for withdrawal but we never even got the chance to negotiate on this.
“The contaminated site is away from where the prison would have been sited and would have only been used as a land break between the prison and other housing.
“We believe that the enthusiasm for a prison in North Wales was lost once the Prisons minister David Hanson was replaced.”
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: “It was made clear in February that acquisition of the site would be subject to: Satisfactory negotiations with the owner, confirmation that contamination would not inhibit prison development, and a successful planning application.
“We were aware of potential contamination issues when we announced our interest in the site. “However we made it clear at the time we would follow our usual governance procedures to ensure the site is suitable for prison development.”
Mr Goodman says the prison plan has set their hopes to develop the site back nine months.
He said: “Things were going well when the Ministry came in and then it all went on hold. We feel we have wasted this time now when we could have been pushing on.“
“When they came in for the site we did not want to oppose it and stop the creation of 700 jobs but they have wasted our time.”
The company has already made its application for the housing and leisure scheme that will include 300 new homes.
He said: “The one good thing is that the phone has been red hot from people interested in working with us on our development here. This can be a jewel in the crown of the area. We will continue to remediate the site for development and everything we do is monitored by the Environment Agency.”
