It was a backlash the state government didn’t see coming.
A week after it announced plans to build a youth detention centre along Hoppers Lane, more than 8000 protestors rallied in the heart of Werribee to voice their opposition to the location.
Question time sit-ins, bumper stickers and high-visibility signs fronting the Princes Freeway soon followed, prompting the state government to back down on its original plans and announce that the 224-bed youth jail would now be built on a 67-hectare site owned by Melbourne Water, on land that was set back about 700 metres from Wests Road in Werribee.
Now that the furore about the facility’s location has died down, the state government’s focus is on getting the new facility, which will replace the existing Parkville youth detention centre, up and running.
Richard Wittmack, who is heading up the project, said the government would award a construction contract early next year, with the build slated to start in mid-2018.
The facility – which will include 224 beds for remanded and sentenced youths aged between 10 and 21, a 12-bed mental health unit and an eight-bed “intensive supervision unit” – is expected to be operational in 2021, with inmates likely to be transferred over from Parkville over a staggered period of time.
“You’ve got benefits for the overall youth justice system. It’s a new facility, the first new facility that’s been built for a long time for youth justice, and it’s an opportunity to make it fit for purpose with the latest security,” Mr Wittmack said.
Security measures will include a six-metre-high reinforced concrete wall surrounding the premises, mechanical and electrical anti-vehicle ramming systems at all entry points, high-security units and CCTV – measures, Mr Wittmack said, that could not have been retrofitted into the existing Parkville detention centre “without some great expense”.
The Wests Road site is close to the Werribee tip and more than five kilometres away from the edge of all future and current residential estates, including the existing Westleigh Gardens and Riverwalk estates.
Access to the site will be via the Little River exit off the Princes Freeway, where a custom-built access road will take drivers right to the facility. Commuters will be able to access the site via a shuttle bus service to and from Werribee train station.
The operating model of the youth prison will be informed by the findings of the Armytage-Ogloff review into youth justice, but the facility will include its own school and offer VCE and VCAL study options for inmates, much like Parkville College. “Parkville College is a registered school and operates six days a week.
“Certainly we want a rehabilitative environment as much as we want a high security facility.”
Post-construction, the youth prison will be staffed by 450 ongoing employees, but Mr Wittmack could not confirm how many of these positions would be new.
“There are a number of staff that work in Parkville already that live in the Werribee area, and there will be other new opportunities for people,” he said. “This is a 224-bed facility … obviously there’ll be more jobs to deal with the greater population.”
Mr Wittmack said there were also opportunities for local businesses – such as food delivery, gardening and facility maintenance – to service the detention centre in the future.
