New Zealand Plans $1.1 Billion Prison Expansion

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The government will spend $1.1 billion to construct up to 4,900 prison beds during the next seven years as part of a plan to relieve overcrowding and address inmate population growth.

The prison population is projected to increase from approximately 8,000 inmates to 11,000 by 2016, which will require construction of 3,500 new beds, according to recently released budget documents.

The Department of Corrections operates 20 prisons — 17 men’s prisons and three women’s — and 150 community probation and psychological services centers with a combined capacity of approximately 9,100 beds.

With the recent growth in the prison population projected to continue, the prison system is set to run out of baseline beds by the first quarter of 2010, says Judith Collins, minister of corrections, police and veterans affairs.

In 2007-08, the average prison population was 7,864 inmates and the DOC managed more than 76,000 new sentences, remand prisoners and orders, according to official figures. Approximately 35,000 offenders were serving community-based sentences.

“Significant construction is required over the coming years to increase the number of prison beds,” Collins says.

A new prison will be constructed near Auckland to satisfy long-term capacity needs and future inmate population growth.

“In the past, new beds took years to plan and build and were very expensive,” Collins says.

The 650-bed Spring Hill Correctional Facility, which was completed using conventional construction methods in 2007, cost more than $400,000 per bed. Tilt-slab construction of a new prison could expand system capacity at a cost of $250,000 per bed, according to official figures.

“We must look at ways of creating new beds more quickly and more cheaply,” Collins says.

Short-term needs will be met through the addition of prefabricated modular cells. Converted shipping containers — Collins unveiled a four-cell prototype in June — could be erected at existing prisons at a cost of approximately $35,000 per bed, officials say.

The government is also in negotiations with the Corrections Association of New Zealand to expand the number of double-bunk cells to create approximately 1,000 new beds at five prisons.

“Double bunking is the fastest way to add extra capacity,” Collins says.

Medium-term capacity demands will be met through the expansion of existing prisons. The government also plans to replace an additional 1,400 substandard beds.

The DOC received about $560 million in government funding last year. Approximately $230 million in capital and operational funding will be allocated to the department to expand space during the next four years.

More than $15 million in capital funding has been allocated for design and planning work to expand the capacity at an existing facility on the North Island, according official figures.

“This design and planning work will put the government in a strong position to decide which of these options should be progressed in budget 2010,” Collins says.

New Zealand’s per capita rate of imprisonment is 184 individuals per 100,000 residents, according to the OECD.