The local population needs leadership and guidance from Mendip District Council (MDC) on how to make their views known (and matter) about the future use of Shepton Mallet Prison. Following the sale of the prison MDC failed to ensure public participation and understanding over the options of the Prison site. We have NOT had a public participation that:
Includes the promise that public participation should influence the decision.
Promotes sustainable decisions by recognising and communicating the needs of all participants.
We want to let MDC know that we feel let down by an ineffective consultation for the Prison's future use by the new owners and by those who represent the town, and now it is time for MDC to help the town before it is too late and we lose an important piece of the town's history and a potential heritage and tourism asset.
Why is this important?
Steeped in history and certainly Shepton’s largest and most well-known landmark, the country’s oldest prison is set to become a lifeless hulk adding little to the life of our town or our community.
The developer’s proposals are for it to become a residential site with a minimum of 160 or a possible 205 units, depending upon what ‘extras’ the Council wants added into the basic scheme. But the site is not easy and development will involve 3 or 4-storey new building and severe limitations on resident parking, with only 1 or 0.75 spaces per unit. Community and heritage usage exists only under the smaller proposal, although under the larger proposal the Council gets cash and social housing.
Has this been thought through? Has the property developer effectively engaged the town during its own consultation exercise? Only 120 people filled in City and Country's feedback questionnaire (to date). Shepton Mallet is home to over 10,000 residents, and is circled with numerous villages and communities nestled in the Mendip Hills, close by. City and Country's consultation has not been adequate and has focused solely on a residential option for the Prison site.
Mendip District Council has stood by in silence. Although its own Local Plan acknowledges that the town has a "continuing poor image", nothing has been said about how the prison development is to address this crucial weakness.
Generally, the town needs a clear vision and identity like other towns in Mendip. Shepton has a rich heritage based on agriculture which spans more than a millennium including the historic architecture of sheep farming, cloth production and brewing; the community struggles of industrialisation, decline and wars and the large-scale food and drink and nascent creative industries that we see today.
The question should not be simply how many residential units can the prison site provide, but how will it become a key part of Shepton’s architectural, social and economic story and a prized and possibly unique asset for the town.
We hope this will be the catalyst for the change that the town, its communities and the councils want to see. Unless we act now, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will be lost.
