A northern prison is on the most wanted list for some local councils.
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The state government this week confirmed it had appointed a project manager for the development and a number of sites across the North would be explored.
While northern councils have yet to be approached about the project, the majority of mayors would “welcome” the prison development if it were to go ahead in their areas.
Northern Midlands mayor David Downie said the project would create jobs within the region.
“Our council welcomes a prison facility in the northern part of the state and would prefer if it could be closer to the Northern Midlands area so that it increases work opportunities for people in our municipality,” he said.
“Prisons are a necessity and if people can be closer to their families for rehabilitation, that’s a good argument for one.”
The council, however, has not been actively pushing for the state government to consider the Northern Midlands.
Instead, they have thrown their support by neighbouring council Meander Valley.
“We have seen the Meander Valley Council have approached the government about the prison site being in their municipality and we support them in their endeavors.
“We’re just hoping it may be built closer to our boundary.”
While the state government previously suggested it would be looking “closer to Launceston”, Dorset mayor Greg Howard said there was plenty of space in the North-East for the prison.
“We haven’t received any notification to say if they are looking at any site in Dorset, but we have got plenty of areas we could put it in,” he said.
‘It would mean significant employment opportunities and given prison facilities are so secure these days, I don’t see why we would have any issues.”
Similarly in George Town, mayor Bridget Archer said it was “absolutely something that would be of interest”.
“We have got some sites that would be suitable for that project, for example the pulp mill site and we would absolutely welcome the opportunity to be considered,” she said.
“There are a lot of jobs attached to it, both in the construction phase and ongoing.
“We also have one of the best highways in the state between Launceston and George Town for transport.”
