Building back better?
We recently launched a new interactive map of prisons in England and Wales, as a resource for people to explore prisons in their local area, the footprint the prisons occupy, and how the prisons relate to the surrounding area.
We developed the map as part of our After Prison programme, a programme grounded in the simple proposition that there is always a better use for a piece of land than as a place for a prison.
Over the coming months we will be continuing to build knowledge about the land our prisons currently occupy. We will also be creating resources to support the case for better uses for prison land: affordable housing perhaps; or community facilities; business zones; or parkland and recreational facilities.
Against the background of the national recovery from COVID-19, and the government’s expressed commitment to ‘build back better’, there is an urgent need to strengthen accountability over, and democratic participation in, decisions on the current and future use of land occupied by prisons.
If you don't already receive our monthly After Prison updates, and would like to do so, you can register for updates here.
We also want to start to collect ideas and suggestions on how prison land might be used differently. Whether you live near a prison or not, you will probably have ideas on how the land they currently occupy might be better used.
You can share your thoughts via this page on our website. We’ll get back to everyone who responds.