'Substandard' Mt Eden prison to get overhaul

Mt Eden prison is set to be radically overhauled following reports of sewage flooding the exercise yards, a high inmate suicide rate and fears of legal action over its dilapidated state.

Cabinet has approved $6 million to be spent on the jail, now more than 140 years old.

Details are contained in documents obtained by the Herald on Sunday under the Official Information Act. Corrections describes the prison as sub-standard and unsafe, inefficient and falling "well short of the basic requirements for a modern corrections facility".

The prison's poor condition mean there is a "high likelihood of service failure, the consequences of which would be catastrophic".

But Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor told the Herald on Sunday that $300,000 had been spent on maintenance in the past year to bring the prison to an acceptable standard.

"We clearly want to improve the situation, but to date the prison operates effectively, and we are satisfied that it meets all health and safety requirements."

He said Corrections was "actively managing the matters with the appropriate authorities" and did not believe there was a risk of prosecution.

But the minister's line was at odds with the reports, which say "remedial action" would "not address underlying design obsolescence".

Written before the $300,000 maintenance spend, the reports describe a prison teetering on the brink of collapse. They cite:
* Sewage flooding into the exercise yard and possibly inside the prison.
* Water leaking from toilet blocks to the floors below.
* Serious building code, fire safety and health and safety breaches.
* An inmate suicide rate that had resulted in coroners, putting Corrections "on notice".

O'Connor said the maintenance had preserved the prison's operational capacity, giving the Government more time to choose the best replacement option. National Party law and order spokesman Simon Power said the Government had clearly put Mt Eden "in the 'too hard' basket".

Budget blowouts on other new prisons had severely restricted the options, he said. "When you are prepared to spend $11 million landscaping four new prisons and only $300,000 on a prison which is essentially medieval in nature, where are your priorities lying?"

Factors complicating any redevelopment include the desirability of retaining the central Auckland site; the prison's heritage status; and the inability of the rest of the corrections system to cope with transfers of inmates from Mt Eden.