Illawarra Labor MP Stephen Jones has taken the fight against a prison at Kembla Grange to federal parliament.
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In a members statement on Monday, Mr Jones said the jail was “the wrong plan for the wrong jail in the wrong place”.
He highlighted that West Dapto had been gazetted as a growth area for the Illawarra, with schools and infrastructure already under pressure.
“The people of West Dapto are angry, and rightfully so. I give my support to those who are campaigning to stop this jail.”
Mr Jones also said Dapto Public School – which has more than 700 students – was already bursting at the seams.
“700 students, many of them crammed into demountable classrooms, no plan for a new school—in fact, planning for the area says that over the future years we will need eight new primary schools and two new high schools in the area,” he said.
“The roads in and out of the area need to be upgraded. The government has a plan to put a jail in, but doesn't have a plan to put a new school in. “
“It has a plan to put a jail in, but not a plan to put in new off-ramps on the freeway.”