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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you live very near a prison?

143 replies

Miltonglade · 29/11/2020 20:16

Went to see a house in a lovely modern housing estate this morning. Great house for us near a bluebell wood - idyllic even - but with on flaw as far as I am concerned. Coming out of the estate across a dual carriageway is a prison with Category A male prisoners and also young offenders. We would be at the back of the estate so a few roads away but still this makes me a little uneasy what with a young family but my hubby loves the house and does not see an issue at all. AIBU?

OP posts:
liveitwell · 29/11/2020 20:18

Does that usually mean ex prisoners stay in that area? I'd do my research before buying there. Wouldn't put me off completely but if there are lots of halfway houses etc in the area I wouldn't.

Housewoes23 · 29/11/2020 20:18

I think I would in those circumstances. If it was a choice between two idyllic ones and one not near a prison I may be swayed.

ItCouldBeBunnies · 29/11/2020 20:19

We passed on a house for the same reason. We didn't even view it after I saw where it was. It was perfect apart from that. DH was very understanding of my history though and driving past a prison every day would have been hard.

zigzagbetty · 29/11/2020 20:21

My mil lives opposite a cat a prison and doesn't have any problems at all as far as I can see. Only issue is parking sometimes but all the houses have drives so not a massive issue. I wouldn't be put off tbh

Waxonwaxoff0 · 29/11/2020 20:23

What exactly do you think is going to happen? Confused

NotJust3SmallWords · 29/11/2020 20:24

I used to live opposite a women's prison in London. It wasn't the nicest view ever, but we didn't have any major problems.

catsjammies · 29/11/2020 20:24

I've lived quite close to a few of the big London prisons and it's never occurred to me that it would be an issue.

dasey · 29/11/2020 20:24

The prisoners are locked in there, unlikely you'll bump into them in the bluebell woods.

FizzyPink · 29/11/2020 20:25

Unless it’s a prison known for escapees I can’t imagine what problems it would cause you

IntoP20 · 29/11/2020 20:27

I wouldn’t. Though if you asked me why I wouldn’t have a succinct reason to be able to give you, I just wouldn’t. Not very helpful I know, sorry!

Newuser991 · 29/11/2020 20:27

A friend of mine used to live near Broadmoor. Technically a hospital rather than a prison.

London is full of prisons. It's actually pretty hard to escape.

Bippitybop · 29/11/2020 20:28

We lived near a maximum security prison in the past- according to one of the prison officers it would be safe, because if anyone escapes they’re not going to hang around locally for long! We never had any issues.

gingerbreadfox · 29/11/2020 20:28

You need to find out if it is a normal prison or a resettlement prison

happinessischocolate · 29/11/2020 20:28

I wouldn't have a problem with it and I doubt there's many half way houses nearby, prisoners are usually sent to a prison near their original area/family connections just before release and would have no reason to want to stay near a place they'd been incarcerated for a long time.

BonnieDundee · 29/11/2020 20:28

I'd think prison neighbours would be very much less likely to be a problem than many others.

Lovemusic33 · 29/11/2020 20:29

We live quite close to a prison, it’s very rare that anyone ever escapes 🤣 so I don’t really see the issue, these place are very secure. Also inmates are not housed nearby when they are released unless they come form the area originally.

SuperCaliFragalistic · 29/11/2020 20:29

So a Cat A wouldn't really ever be a problem as most wouldn't be resetting in the area and would get moved to a lower cat before release. Plus the security is extremely high and you will find it a generally quiet place that doesn't impact on you. I don't think I would want to live near an open (cat D) prison though due to the amount of comings and goings despite the prisoners being lower risk (supposedly - they are not).

TrickyD · 29/11/2020 20:30

We live very close to a prison in the 1970's when the power cuts were happening. As we were on the same electricity circuit as the prison, we had no cuts.
We never had any problems of any sort.

TheTurnOfTheScrew · 29/11/2020 20:30

Prisoners come from all over and usually return to wherever they've come from on release. Cat As don't do day release.

YonderTweek · 29/11/2020 20:31

I used to live around the block from a category B prison. I never had any issues and most of the time I forgot it was there, but I can appreciate others can feel differently. I visited the same prison as part of my old job and I felt rather reassured about their security measures (although I was slightly concerned about how easy it was for me and my colleague to get in but it's a different story Grin).

WheresMyMask · 29/11/2020 20:32

I've lived within walking distance of a prison for the last 10 years.

Having grown up down the road from Broadmoore, when someone escapes they tend not to hang around.

It doesn't even cross my mind that I live near a prison to be honest.

Petitmum · 29/11/2020 20:32

Is it Park? I used to live nearby and it was never an issue. I would be more concerned to be near an open prison.

chunkyrun · 29/11/2020 20:33

Cat A's top notch security. You don't have anything to worry about

dkdkfhfkdsl · 29/11/2020 20:33

It depends. There are two prisons in my area - one is in a city, and has a lot of halfway houses and rehab type places nearby.

The other is on an old army base, in the countryside. I'd live near this one (as if anyone escaped they'd be unlikely to hang around) but not near the city one.

1Morewineplease · 29/11/2020 20:34

I live near a prison. It has huge stone walls all around and actually looks like a mediaeval structure. Burglary rates are very low for some strange reason!