Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury's Dana prison isn't viable as a hotel, say owners

The company behind plans to redevelop Shrewsbury's former Dana prison says a hotel on the site would not be "commercially viable".

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The information was revealed in a planning application submitted to Shropshire Council on behalf of Ego Ltd, the company looking to turn the prison in to a mixed use site, with student accommodation in the former cell blocks.

In a planning statement submitted as part of its application, the company says it believes the plans will allow students to live and integrate within the community.

The site – owned by Trevor Osborne, of the Osborne Property Group, and Eric Grove, a Midlands Property developer – will include a gym, residential flats, cafe and restaurant and "Shrewsbury's Walled Garden".

Mr Osborne was behind the successful redevelopment of Oxford Prison, which saw it converted into a high-end Malmaison hotel, where guests can sleep in a cell and enjoy drinks in the jail's refectory.

Oxford's Malmaison has been created inside the city's former jail

But details of the Dana plans reveal that an option for a hotel was dismissed in favour of the mixed use.

It says: "Ego is dedicated to creating a truly mixed use development with students incorporated into the very heart of the scheme.

"They believe that student populations, particularly where they are newly created within a town, should be integrated rather than segregated in order for them to properly mix into the town's community and economy and to avoid the creation of isolated student residential areas.

"The former prison is a perfect site for this in that it has two cellular buildings, which lend themselves well to student living, without having to build new accommodation."

The statement says that other uses for the prison are either not viable, or fail to capitalise on its potential.

It says: "The only other viable uses for these buildings would be a hotel (not commercially viable in the area), storage (not an ideal use for the building in terms of promoting activity and re-use in this part of the town), or potential higher education facilities relating to a university – for example a learning space with cellular reading rooms/study spaces."

Under the plans for the Dana, Mr Osborne has spoken of creating "Shrewsbury's Walled Garden", and an area the public could walk around.

The application states that access to the area would be controlled to ensure the safety of those living at the former prison.

It states: "It is anticipated that there will be public access to the site as a whole on a controlled basis, as part of repurposing the site into a 'walled garden'.

"There will need to be an element of control in order to maintain a high level of quality within the walls, and also to protect the security of the residents and those working on the site of visiting for leisure."

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