NSW: Cessnock would be crippled by jail sell-off: Council
20 Mar 2009 4:08 PM
SYDNEY, March 20 AAP - The NSW government's planned privatisation of Cessnock jail will cripple a town that is already on its knees, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.
Cessnock councillor Graham Smith told the upper house inquiry into the privatisation of prisons that the Department of Corrective Services had not consulted with the local community in the NSW Hunter region town.
Mr Smith said there had been no advice on how many jobs may be lost or workers transferred elsewhere once Cessnock prison was privatised later this year.
He said job losses would be inevitable as a private owner attempted to reap profits, and this would have a "ripple-like effect" on the community.
If prison officers had to leave town, enrolments would fall at the local school, possibly leading to a fall in teacher numbers, and the impact would also be felt in real estate prices.
"If there is a glut of housing, what's going to happen there?" Mr Smith asked the inquiry.
"Will those who are moving out be able to sell or lease their houses?
"There's also the loss of trade to local businesses."
He said these challenges came at a time when Cessnock is already "struggling economically" as the most disadvantaged local government area in the Hunter region.
"To proceed with this privatisation, with the uncertainties of the future ... is unwise," he told the inquiry.
"It's the council's position and the community's position that the NSW government should be investing in our community, not withdrawing from it."
Mr Smith said the members of Cessnock council, which is made up of members from both sides of the political divide, were unanimously opposed to the jail's privatisation.
The NSW government announced its plans to privatise Cessnock and Sydney's Parklea jails in November last year.
On Sunday night just over 100 inmates were transferred from Cessnock to Windsor.
