Shrewsbury's Dana jail 'could be a prison again or migrant centre'
The owner of Shrewsbury's former Dana jail has asked if the building can still be used as a prison or short-term holding centre for immigrants, migrants or refugees without the need for planning permission.
Trevor Osborne, one of the joint owners of the Dana, has written to Shropshire Council querying whether the building's previous planning uses still apply.
The property developer's request comes after his plans for the site were thrown out by Shropshire Council's central planning committee last month.
Under the "C2A secure residential institution" planning class, the building could be used as a prison, young offenders' institution, detention centre, secure training centre, custody centre, short-term holding centre, secure hospital, secure local authority accommodation or military barracks.
Mr Osborne is also asking whether it can be used as a detention centre or short term holding centre for immigrants, migrants or refugees.
The letter also seeks to establish whether the existing gymnasium can be reopened for use as a standalone facility for the public.
Mr Osborne said: "What we are doing is to ask for confirmation that any of those things are lawful uses that can be done without planning permission.
"Anyone is entitled to ask for confirmation of the lawful use of the building under planning regulations.
"We just want to have confirmation that if any of those uses are needed we do not need to refer to the local planning authority, we can just do it."
The developer said he had not received requests for any of the uses but said he had been working solely towards the plans refused by Shropshire Council last month.
He said: "We have not been looking because we were expecting to develop it in accordance with the planning application which was refused. We are now interested if these uses are legal and when we know we will seek to decide."
He said there were currently no other ideas for the future of the site.
Mr Osborne, who previously completed a project to turn the former Oxford prison into a luxury hotel, said: "I have yet to have suggestions for what the Dana can be used for as an alternative to the application that was put forward.
"We need to decide what to do in light of the council decision and in order to decide that we need to be absolutely clear between us and the council what uses are lawful without planning permission."
The future of the site has been up in the air since the prison gates slammed shut for the last time in March 2013.
Mr Osborne's original plans were to convert the prison into student accommodation, flats, a gym and a walled garden.
But Shropshire Council's central planning committee turned the application down despite it being recommended for approval by the authority's officers.
About 60 residents from the area surrounding the prison attended the meeting, cheering when it was turned down.
