Women have been making the case for a dedicated space on the prison site for several years

THERE will not be a standalone women’s build­ing in the regeneration of Holloway Prison, the developer has announced, sparking outrage from activists.

The Community Plan For Holloway (CPFH), a group made up of dozens of residents and campaigners, have reacted with fury to a document sent to them by Peabody, who now own the Parkhurst Road site, which ruled out the possibility of a building purely dedicated to women’s services.

Campaigners say Pea­body are “backtracking” on their previous claims that they would construct a building providing services to vulnerable women that would honour the legacy of what was once the largest female-only prison in Europe.

Sophie Benedict, a forensic psycho­therapist who used to work in the prison, said: “Peabody has consistently used the term ‘women’s building’ but it’s clear they never meant to build one.

Niki Gibbs at the Holloway Prison site

“Instead, they’ve intended all along to provide no more than a single floor in a tower block.”

As the Tribune previously reported, campaigners had believed that the death of Sarah Everard, which has sparked national debate about vio­lence against women, would make the case for the importance of having a standalone building dedicated to helping vulnerable women.

Ms Benedict added: “Women’s safety and rights are in the spotlight after the death of Sarah Everard, and the government is planning to create 500 more prison places for women. Yet Peabody is saying that a women’s building, with unique services and activities to transform society, is not worth talking about.”

In a Peabody document sent to CPFH, it says the “women’s building will not be a standalone structure” and “we will not be progressing any design work to look at this as an option”.

The document adds: “The word building was added to distinguish this facility from that which is solely a women’s centre. It was never intended to describe a standalone facility but one that recognises that it is a building for women within which a women’s centre, in accordance with the Coulson Report definition, would also be accommodated.

“There is a pressing need to make efficient use of London’s finite brownfield land. A standalone building of this scale is not considered to be an efficient use.”

Niki Gibbs, of Reclaim Holloway and a member of CPFH, said: “I’ve become quite disillu­sioned by the whole process. I thought we were going to be working together to achieve a proper legacy for women on this site.”

Peabody bought the site in 2016 for about £82million using grants and loans from the Mayor of London’s office.

They have committed to building around 1,000 new homes on the site with 60 per cent at afford­able rates of which 42 per cent will be at the cheapest council rates.

Peabody were invited to comment but had not responded by the time we went to press.