Mt Crawford Prison

Bronwyn Torrie at Dom Post reports:

An old Wellington prison which has been called a disgrace could be closed following a drop in the prison population.

Corrections Minister Judith Collins signalled the closure of Mt Crawford Prison near Miramar at a Law and Order Select Committee meeting on Wednesday.

The prison, which was built in 1927, holds about 120 prisoners and was temporarily closed from June 2008 until July 2009.

Enterprise Miramar Peninsula chair Allan Probert told Radio New Zealand he had been waiting a long time for the prison to be shut permanently.

”There are much better uses that that land can be put to in order to benefit Wellington. It’s just wrong to have a prison in the city like this.”

I’ve been to the prison a few times, and also on the greater prison lands many times. The views from those locations are amongst the most stunning in Wellington, and it is such a shame that they are wasted on a prison. If the prison goes, the land will be highly coveted.