No Possible ‘HMP Chester’ Name For Wrexham Prison

As many guessed this was our ‘April Fool’ for this year, although a few did get caught out or were generously playing along!

Our post about it on our Facebook page had around 40 comments, some very much against the idea of HMP Chester (read them here), with many taking to twitter to express a similar viewpoint.

Of course many called it out as a spoof right away, with our favourite comment of the morning being:

@wrexham does it really matter what it's called? The people complaining are probably the people who didn't want it anyway. Call it HMP Jeff

— Sissons © (@Siss0ns) April 1, 2014

You can see our last two April Fools, when we said the bypass would become a toll road, and Wrexham declaring itself the Capital of Wales , by clicking here and here.

(Just a note to some local media who monitor Wrexham.com – this is a SPOOF so do not run with it!)

Original story from 6am this morning, including the poll, below…

A shortlist of names for the Wrexham prison has been released, bizarrely including ‘HMP Chester’.

Spokesperson Fulton MacKay speaking on behalf of the Ministry Of Justice said: “The list was formed as part of an ongoing consultation.

“The final decision has not been made however it will be one of the three stated in the report”.

The shortlist in the previously embargoed report states:

• Option A    “HMP North Wales“
• Option B    “HMP Pentre Maelor“
• Option C    “HMP Chester“

The PDF report issued by the Ministry Of Justice contains explanations for each, with the ‘North Wales’ and ‘Pentre Maelor’ being described as ‘geographically descriptive’ and ‘locally relevant’.

Most peculiar is the ‘HMP Chester’ option , considering the prison is due to be sited in Wrexham and is in Wales.

The report states “The prison will be situated around three miles from the England Wales border and will serve North Wales and the North of England.

“Consideration to the descriptor is given due to the closest city, which in this case is Chester a matter of miles to the North.”

Naming a prison does not appear to be solely based on location as this list of UK prisons indicates, with many being geographic to a local village or area rather than the closest town or city. Similarly some are named after the closest town or city, rather than the local area convention.

It is claimed that the development on Wrexham’s industrial estate could create around 1000 jobs and boost the local economy by around £23m per year, however the planning application, which can be viewed here lists pages of concerns from local residents and Community Councils.

We are conducting a simple poll to find out what our readers prefer as a naming option, so please select a box and vote!

[poll id=”2″]

Wrexham.com broke the news that the town had ‘won’ the race for the prison, similarly you can read our live report from the planning meeting that gave it the local go ahead here.