\u201cSpeed of delivery will be the biggest driver,\u201d Corrections told ministers.<\/p>\n
A prison architecture expert called it a \u201cband-aid\u201d solution that could force inmates to be locked up for longer in bad weather.<\/p>\n
Christine McCarthy of Victoria University had been reading the plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re very clear; they are not intending to use this design again,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like, we have to do something, we don\u2019t have any options.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Less amenities\u2019<\/p>\n
Papers released under the Official Information Act showed officials last year suggested that ministers asked Corrections: \u201cHave compromises been made in the shortened project development\/design that create delivery risks or that impact on operational efficiency, adaptability, future costs, future investment requirements or create prisoner management risks?\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Government said it had been advised there would be no compromises on the highest standards of security and safety.<\/p>\n
Corrections\u2019 own business case said the new design was \u201cseen to represent a compromise in amenity compared to the X-wing design\u201d for Waikeria Prison\u2019s much bigger, longer expansion.<\/p>\n
The cells would be regular ones, but the shared spaces were changed. It might necessitate additional security measures.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has less amenities for prisoners… and is untested in terms of its \u2018no roof\u2019 design and the operational and maintenance impacts that may result from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the flip side of the Hawke\u2019s Bay rush, Christchurch Men\u2019s Prison\u2019s expansion \u2013 again, much bigger and longer-term \u2013 had been going so slowly by last July that Treasury officials held it up as a case study in \u201csignificant lag between funding and action\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018Rapid unexpected\u2019 growth exacerbates risks<\/p>\n
Prisoner numbers topped a record 11,000 in January and were forecast to reach more than 14,000 in a decade. Over 40% of inmates were on remand awaiting a court hearing or sentencing.<\/p>\n
Risky prisoners were having to be held in lower security, \u201cincreasing operating costs and risks\u201d.<\/p>\n
Just months after the Government\u2019s 2024 long-term prison plan was completed, it was already outdated, while not even factoring in more muster rises from the Government\u2019s new tough-on-crime policies and law changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cRapid unexpected actual and projected growth means capacity limits may be exceeded by 2027, exacerbating operational and security risks,\u201d said a report last July to Chris Bishop\u2019s new Infrastructure and Investment Ministers Group, released to RNZ.<\/p>\n
The prison population is now projected by next June to be 1853 higher than the 2024 projections. In response, the Government hatched the Accelerated Capacity Programme or ACP mid-year.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur work to restore law and order is paying off,\u201d said Mitchell in November, announcing ACP\u2019s cornerstone, the expansion by 316 beds at Hawke\u2019s Bay.<\/p>\n
Corrections told RNZ it had accelerated the project \u201cwhile still retaining checks and safeguards\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018Complete commitment to a compromised building\u2019<\/p>\n
McCarthy said the department was just reacting to the fact that double-bunking everywhere and reopening old facilities could not cope with a bed shortfall forecast to peak in 2027-29.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a smart way in the situation that has been created, but it\u2019s not going to be the last time this happens.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really quite a fundamental question … can we build our way out of this? So that\u2019s what\u2019s interesting here: there\u2019s a complete commitment to a compromised building.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK, by contrast, said no, it cost too much to keep expanding prisons, and was looking for alternatives, she said.<\/p>\n
Reports showed the UK was adding cells https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/prison-building-boom-to-make-streets-safer but was also looking at the likes of early release for good behaviour amid \u201ca broader overhaul of sentencing policies aimed at cutting the number of inmates before cells run out\u201d, according to the New York Times.<\/p>\n
Labour said National talked tough but could not deliver, with prison projects \u201cstalled in Christchurch and rushed planning in Hawke\u2019s Bay\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018Without any compromises to … safety and security\u2019<\/p>\n
Corrections told RNZ changes to the Hawke\u2019s Bay design were \u201cto allow for faster delivery without any compromises to the safety and security of the facility\u201d.<\/p>\n
The papers released under the Official Information Act revealed how the department planned to speed things up:<\/p>\n
to place the tender on July 1, weeks before Cabinet approvalfinalise the business case weeks after the tenderleave out the usual \u201cGateway\u201d review before seeking Cabinet approvalCabinet sign-off was on August 18.<\/p>\n
The speed of this prompted officials to suggest in July 2025 that Bishop\u2019s ministerial group ask, \u201cWhy was the RFP [tender] released prior to Cabinet approval? How will the resulting risks with the market be managed?\u201d<\/p>\n
And: \u201cWhat plans does Corrections have to manage the risks of not undertaking independent assurance of the project at an early stage, and how will any adverse findings of the proposed Gateway review in early October be managed?\u201d<\/p>\n
Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell told RNZ the Gateway review \u201ccommended the department for active efforts to manage all risks\u201d.<\/p>\n
He supported the approach, he said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy expectation is that the new units … will meet the highest standards in safety and security, and I have been advised there will be no compromises on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corrections said it was saving four to six months on an otherwise 22-month build.<\/p>\n
The fast track had built-in \u201coff-ramps\u201d if an affordable solution could not be found.<\/p>\n
Corrections said it got independent assurance and review, including the cost estimates and a risk estimate, from industry experts.<\/p>\n
Builder Naylor Love won the job on October 31. The expansion is being funded from the department\u2019s baseline. The cost was blanked out of reports.<\/p>\n
Double bunking: \u2018They\u2019re going to get angry\u2019<\/p>\n
Corrections told RNZ the design had less internal communal space but an open-air courtyard instead. It had less admin space for staff, but there was space for that in other parts of the prison.<\/p>\n
It was more efficient and better for keeping tabs on prisoners than a courtyard design.<\/p>\n
The 160 new cells will nearly all have double-bunking. Squeezing inmates in that way was regularly widely criticised, and New Zealand is a signatory to a convention against it.<\/p>\n
Howard League prison reformer Cosmo Jeffrey said the crowding would cost lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you can\u2019t even walk around each other without banging into each other,\u201d said Jeffrey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like, what do they think is going to happen… locking people up like that? Obviously, they\u2019re going to get angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were three double-bunk deaths at Mt Eden prison last year.<\/p>\n
\u2018Significant lags\u2019<\/p>\n
At Christchurch Men\u2019s Prison, earthworks had begun.<\/p>\n
The privately operated prison expansion is a $1.5 billion-plus four-phase project that aims to open its first new beds in 2029, and others from 2032.<\/p>\n
Jeffrey said some inmates had already been moved out to make way for the expansion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis guy\u2019s waited four years to get on the rehabilitation programme, and with 24 hours\u2019 notice, he gets shunted down to Dunedin.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo put it mildly, he\u2019s heartbroken.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another inmate he knew had just started a prison job at Christchurch, then been shifted south.<\/p>\n
Corrections said the project should sign up a builder in July. Three groups were shortlisted last year \u2013 one had a private US prison operator, Honeywell, on board, and another was multinational Serco that already ran Auckland South prison.<\/p>\n
Treasury told ministers last year that the 15 months or so it was taking between Budget 2025 funding and signing the contract had put Christchurch Men\u2019s into a group of two major projects \u2013 another was a mental health build \u2013 for a time lag of over a year.<\/p>\n
It suggested the ministers shared \u201clessons\u201d from the lag.<\/p>\n
\u201cBillions in new Crown funding are being committed each year, but we are seeing significant lags between Budget decisions, signing contracts, and commencing delivery and construction activity,\u201d the report for the June 2025 quarter said, looking ahead to Budget 2026 bids.<\/p>\n
Mitchell told RNZ he had been assured Christchurch Men\u2019s was on schedule. It was very different from Hawke\u2019s Bay and should not be compared, he said.<\/p>\n
Hawke\u2019s Bay\u2019s existing high-security units overheated in summer, sparking a fix-it project last year.<\/p>\n
Corrections said when it planned prisons, it took into account basing prisoners close to family where it could, the security level of prisoners, as well as the services they required.<\/p>\n
– RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cSpeed of delivery will be the biggest driver,\u201d Corrections told ministers. A prison architecture expert called it a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1561,501,13689,24569,1976,111,43,139,159680,69,31341,21037,8442,159679,102],"class_list":{"0":"post-286900","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-bay","9":"tag-design","10":"tag-expansion","11":"tag-fasttracked","12":"tag-hawkes","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-noroof","17":"tag-nz","18":"tag-pennington","19":"tag-phil","20":"tag-prison","21":"tag-untested","22":"tag-with"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}