The Ministry of Justice is again marketing Reading Prison for sale after it decided the local Council’s £2.6 million bid was not of a high enough monetary value. If you support the campaign to Save Reading Gaol please write to your MP. Contact details for local MPs and a draft letter that can be used are provided below. Contact details for other MPs can be found here.
| MP | Constituency | |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Rodda | Reading East | matt.rodda.mp@parliament.uk |
| Alok Sharma | Reading West | alok.sharma.mp@parliament.uk |
| Theresa May | Maidenhead | mayt@parliament.uk |
| John Howell | Henley | howelljm@parliament.uk |
| Laura Farris | Newbury | laura.farris.mp@parliament.uk |
| Sir John Redwood | Wokingham | john.redwood.mp@parliament.uk |
Dear [MP Name Here]
I understand the Ministry of Justice is again marketing Reading Prison for sale after it decided the local Council’s £2.6 million bid was not of a high enough monetary value.
It would be a disastrous mistake if the Ministry of Justice were to go against the swell of local opinion and the wishes of the local council and sell this valuable historic site to the highest bidder to convert into housing or a hotel.
This would be a triumph of a blinkered short termism against a more imaginative and ultimately more economically beneficial decision. Transforming the site of Oscar Wilde’s incarceration into an arts, culture and heritage centre would draw people from afar, economically benefitting the wider region and creating a significant tourist attraction.
We urge you to lobby the Ministry of Justice to embrace the unique chance to make Reading Gaol the world class destination it deserves to be.
This opportunity will never come around again.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name Here]