silverlands action campaign

Newsletter 9 5 April 2002

Friday Night Vigils Continue

Every Friday night 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. outside the entrance to Silverlands. Please support if you can, every person counts. Also this is where you are guaranteed to find out the latest news and information on the campaign.

Councillors Site Visit – “No Expense Spared!”

On Saturday 23^rd of March the head surveyor showed Frances Barden, Roger Habgood & Geoff Woodger around the Silverlands site and confirmed the renovations would be complete by the end of April. It will then take 8 –12 weeks to complete the conversion into suitable accommodation for the proposed treatment centre. The building is being refurbished to its former splendour (circ. £2m), even down to exact replacement of old cobble stones in the courtyard, marble fireplaces and the installation of new chandeliers.

The councillors confirmed that neighbours properties were clearly visible from both inside and outside the house.

Clinic Founder Contacts The Campaign

In a detailed email from leading sex abuse expert, Ray Wyre, founder of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, the Silverlands Action Campaign recently learnt more about how the search by the Home Office for a permanent location for the residential sex offenders clinic led to Silverlands.

The gist of the note was:

A permanent site has been sought for eight years since the closure of the Gracewell clinic in Birmingham.
The preference has been for a site located on Crown land preferably next to a prison.
Locating the clinic within a prison is not an option given that not all the residents are convicted paedophiles, i.e. social services referrals.

Compensation

A local resident, whose property is clearly overlooked by Silverlands, recently wrote to the Home Office. He asked in the event that the clinic were to be sited at Silverlands what compensation would be paid. The unequivocal response was that no compensation would be offered to any resident.

THERE IS NO NEWS ON DATES FOR AN ANNOUNCEMENT

Silverlands Action Campaign Contact The Home Office Today

The Home Office are keen to hear from you if you have any questions or concerns:

Phone: George Barrow 0207 2170658

Write to: Mr Tony Raban, National Probation Directorate, Horseferry House, Dean Ryle Street, London, SW1P 2AW

Scottish Probation Office Reject Wolvercote Type Clinics

The Campaign has also recently learned of a Scottish Probation Service document on the treatment of sex offenders. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/justice/roso-05.asp

(Sections 52 onwards). They made a study of the Wolvercote clinic in Epsom and decided against such a unit in Scotland. Amongst the reasons for this conclusion were:

· the practical problems of setting up a new facility in the face of community concerns

· the risk of bringing together a group of high risk sex offenders in one location

· the cost-effectiveness of diverting disproportionate resources to such a facility from other non-residential community-based programmes

Fund Raising

Over 80 local businesses have agreed to take Silverlands Action Campaign fund raising collection tins. Look out for the bright yellow tins and new yellow campaign posters.

Why No Treatment In Prison?

In the recent articles that have been broadcast on Radio 4 it has become clear that there is no systematic treatment of paedophiles whilst they are in prison. The policy appears to be that treatment for a few, is sought in the final year of their custodial sentence. Surely treatment should start from day one of any custodial sentence to ensure the greatest chance of successfully breaking the awful cycle of behaviour.

Contact Us At:

Silverlands Action Campaign, Moorewell House, Lyne Lane, Lyne, KT16 0AJ

By phone - hotline 07960 828113 By Fax 01932 874547

e.mail to silverlandsgroup@hotmail.com Internet - WWW.chertsey.org.uk/silverlandsgroup

Everything in this newsletter is provided in good faith and we accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies in any information provided to us in good faith. If we have made any statement which is incorrect in any way please contact us and we will correct it as soon as possible.