Scottish Prison Service challenges decision to grant Barlinnie A-listed status

The decision to grant A-listed status to HMP Barlinnie has been challenged by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) amid concerns it could impede regeneration in the area.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) recognised the building, which has housed some of the country’s most notorious prisoners, in December last year as it “holds an important place in the national consciousness”.

But the Scottish Government is now considering an appeal against the ruling from the SPS, which runs Barlinnie. It claims the listing is “disproportionate”.

One local councillor, Bailie Annette Christie, SNP, described the decision to list the Riddrie prison as a “travesty”. While she understands the desire to list part of the building, she believes there is an opportunity to provide a much-needed high street for the community.

When HES announced its decision, it said Barlinnie is “exceptionally important in the history of Scottish prison design and criminal justice as the most complete surviving example of a historic prison in Scotland”.

The listing – which followed an application from Labour MSP Paul Sweeney – covers the surviving parts of the earliest layout of the site, developed between 1880 and 1908. Five accommodation halls, the chapel, the former infirmary and store building, the gatehouse and worksheds are included.

The Scottish Government has committed to building a new prison to replace Barlinnie, which has been plagued by overcrowding issues.

Bailie Christie said the current listing is “extensive” and, while a museum could be created on part of the site, there is a need for housing and retail in Riddrie.

The SNP councillor wants local people to be prioritised in decisions on the prison’s future. She said: “The high street could be more than shops, as the shift in the retail environment in recent years is now in the direction of immersive, experience-led destinations.

“Retaining part of the Barlinnie site as a prison museum would recognise the history of the location but also it would allow for an additional community space where the local people can have their own social area.”

A reporter, appointed by Scottish Ministers, is planning to hold a hearing in July before ruling on the appeal. The SPS believes “some of the buildings… do not meet the tests of being of sufficient significance to be of special historic or architectural interest”.

It has asked for two accommodation halls, worksheds, the gatehouse and the infirmary to be excluded from the listing. The appeal states HES’ decision-making has been “flawed” and has “led to an incorrect, wrongly informed and disproportionate blanket designation being applied to large parts of the prison estate”.

“The exclusion is critical for the appellant to continue their operational management of the site, and, in developing options for their future use, in partnership with others,” it adds.

Glasgow City Council has said there are “several areas of clear alignment” between the SPS’s grounds of appeal and the local authority’s position.

It believes “the proposed extent of Category A listing may not be proportionate and that a more selective approach – focusing on key heritage assets – would better balance heritage value with redevelopment potential”.

A council response adds the prison’s “super-block” form impedes “neighbourhood integration” and “redevelopment presents an opportunity to reconfigure and reconnect the area”. Listing large portions of the prison “could leave the site redundant following decommissioning”, it states.

HES has said the buildings “reflect the latest developments in prison design following late 19th century prison reform and are exceptionally important in the history of Scottish prison architecture”.

It added that Barlinnie is an “early and very rare surviving example of a purpose-built prison in Scotland”.

When the designation was announced, Mr Sweeney said opposition from the council and SPS had been “narrow-minded”.

He added the prison is an “important part of Glasgow’s social and architectural history” which he hoped would “become a nationally important site for tourism, culture, business and social enterprise in the east end of Glasgow”.

A public consultation on the listing received around 200 responses, with around 76% agreeing with the assessment of the special architectural and historic interest of the buildings.