12 February
Prisoners from the Spring Hill Corrections Facility have been hard at work over the past year constructing crash barriers to protect drivers at the Hampton Downs Motor Sport complex.
The partnership between the prison and its neighbour began in late 2008, and has seen 16 prisoners constructing crash barriers out of bundles of recycled tyres sourced from tyre recyclers around the country.
“This has been a great project for the prisoners involved,” says Corrections Inmate Employment Area Operations Manager Andy Barr. “They have drilled and bolted together over 24,000 tyres to form some 900 crash barriers for the race track.”
“Being able to complete the work inside the wire has allowed us to get some guys involved that may not otherwise be able to engage with work opportunities at this point in their sentence.
“As a result I have seen the majority of these guys knuckle down, behave themselves and get into a position where they can take advantage of other work and training opportunities on site,” says Andy.
The Hampton Downs Race Track is now nearing completion, and CEO Jamie Kett is thrilled with the work that the prisoners have put into getting the track up and running.
“We have a community policy in which we strive to be responsible partners in our local community. Working with CIE adds real value to both the prisoners, and to us thanks to the high standard of the work.
“The circuit safety tyre barriers the prisoners have constructed are a critical part of any racing venue, and they needed to be built to strict international guidelines. The work of the prisoners in completing this work was assessed by both national and international racing inspectors and the barriers were given a full pass,” says Jamie.
“As far as we’re concerned, we can’t wait to build on the relationship we have with the prison. We’ve approached them about employing prisoners to undertake the day-to-day ground work on the 400 acre site including mowing hundreds of square meters of grass, and the team of prisoners who built the barriers are also actively involved in ongoing repairs and maintenance.
“Looking ahead, we can see plenty of prisoner employment opportunities as the site becomes more of a multiplex events venue,” says Jamie.
In addition to expanding the work they do at the raceway, the prisoners involved in the project have got more work to do.
Organisers of the Top Gear World Tour approached Corrections Inmate Employment after seeing the good work done in Hampton Downs, and prisoners are now hard at work creating crash barriers for the temporary race track at ASB Showgrounds that from 18-21 February will host the New Zealand leg of the tour.
“Research shows that prisoners who can gain the skills to find and maintain employment on release are less likely to reoffend. Through this partnership we get to show prisoners the benefit of giving back to the local community, and that a bit of hard work and dedication can often lead to more opportunities,” says Andy.
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