Future of Reading Prison in the balance again
Calls for a new approach after deal to sell the prison to the highest bidder falls through.
A deal to sell Reading's Grade II listed prison has fallen through.
The Ministry of Justice put the prison up for sale last year saying it should be sold to the highest bidder to maximise the return of taxpayers money. But critics of that policy have pointed out the prison closed seven years ago and millions of pounds of public money has already been spent 'mothballing' the prison.
Now the preferred highest bidder along with their plan to convert the prison into a luxury hotel is off the table.
Reading Borough Council who had been leading a bid to keep the prison as a community arts centre say they'll now seek urgent talks to revive their plans. The council say the site should be a mix of business, leisure, and cultural use. They say there are businesses and organisations including the University of Reading ready to get involved as a community trust.
Deputy leader Tony Page told us:
"What will secure this site is heavy footfall through a range of diverse uses on the site and not a single use. That is the mistake the MOJ (Ministry of Justice) is making.
"Let's be realistic sit down around the table look at the wide opportunities that exist and work together as a partnership. I think there are major opportunities we can unlock if we adopt that approach"
The prison housed Oscar Wilde between 1895 and 1897, after he was released Wilde wrote his poem The Ballad of Reading Gaol about his time in prison cell 3.3.
In 2016 Oscar Wilde's former cell was opened up to the public as part of an art exhibition.
The original door to his cell was amongst the exhibits.
The prison is also at the eastern end of the former Reading Abbey which will be 900 years old next year. Archaeological remains exist within the walls of the prison, and the burial site of Henry 1 is nearby. The council says the prison is a natural extension to their Reading Abbey Quarter.
In October last year a thousand people braved cold and wet conditions to symbolically 'hug' the prison by surrounding it and holding hands. Reading's two MPs put aside their political rivalries to support the calls for the prison to stay in community use.
Reading East MP Matt Rodda says:
"My first step (since hearing of the collapse of the sale) has been to write to the Prisons minister asking her to look again at the whole project. It's clear the Government can't sell the prison to a commercial bidder and that means they should look again at arts and heritage uses. I've also written to the chair of the commons culture media and sport select committee to ask for his help, he's offered support in the past"
Around a thousand people gathered in the Abbey ruins at the end of last year to show their support for saving the prison. There's also a petition https://mattroddamp.com/stopreadinggaolselloff