Kingston and Richmond councils will fight hard to restrict planning options on the Latchmere House prison site when the property goes on the market next month.
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) was expected to put the property up for sale in the next few weeks.
But both councils said they wanted to protect the historic significance of the site, which sits on the two boroughs’ borderline, and draw up a planning brief.
The MOJ said it did not yet have specific plans for the former open prison, which officially closed in 2011.
A spokesman for Kingston Council said: “The councils have jointly appointed consultants to assist them in preparing a planning brief for the site.
“This will specify requirements for the redevelopment of the site including land uses, pedestrian and vehicular access and egress arrangements, and density of development.”
Residents’ ideas and comments on the land will be welcomed when a public consultation opens at a yet to be announced date in September.
The intended planning brief, which will restrict and guide future planning applications, will identify existing features to be retained, including the main building, which is a Building of Townscape Merit.
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