§ Mr. van StraubenzeeWith your permission, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, I wish to present a Petition, signed by 16,228 of my constituents in the County of Berkshire, protesting most strongly against the use of the Pinewood Hospital site near Wokingham for a detention centre.
The Petition shows that the Broadmoor institution is within one and a half miles of the site, and the Petitioners consider that it would be grossly unfair for them to be expected to endure a further establishment for the detention of persons who have committed a crime, that the site is too near a rapidly expanding residential area, that it is close to dense woodland, thus affording immediate cover to escapees, and that it would be infinitely better used for educational purposes as an extension to an existing college of education near by.
The Petition concludes in the customary way, with the words:
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
§ To lie upon the Table.