The latest salvo from a group of ratepayers concerned at a jail’s potential social and economic impacts comes in the form of a video posted on YouTube.

The seven-minute clip, which has already been viewed more than 600 times since it was uploaded, outlines some of the key arguments against building a new jail in Tamworth.

The video includes the claim that “large correctional facilities are bad for growth” and cites American studies that indicate only 20 per cent of jobs created by new prisons go to locals.

The video’s narrator says this matches with the experience of Wellington, located south-east of Dubbo, where a correctional centre was opened in 2007.

“Wellington’s mayor Rod Buhr backs up this conclusion, noting that Wellington has felt no ongoing benefits from the jail as no produce or services are sourced locally,” he says.

The clip also includes the allegation that prisons attract “drugs and drug dealers” and uses the claimed experience of Kempsey in the state’s mid-north coast as a warning.

“Possession and/or use of other drugs increased 275 per cent (since the jail’s opening), with dealing and trafficking up 266 per cent,” the narrator states.

Tamworth Regional Council revealed last month it had been working on a concept where its planned biogas plant could be used to power a new correctional centre.

Councillors resolved on August 13 to write to the state government to gauge its interest in the ambitious $300 million project before any further work is done.

The council has confirmed to The Leader the letter was sent to the office of Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson yesterday.

The prison opposition group this week changed its name from the Association of Tamworth Ratepayers to Concerned Citizens for a Safer Tamworth.

Its Facebook page, “Tamworth says no to a new large correctional centre”, has attracted 443 followers and a Twitter account has been created to keep residents informed.

The group’s spokesman, Geoffrey Green, said the social media campaign was vital in getting its anti-jail message out to the wider Tamworth public.

“Generally there’s a view that social media is, at its grass roots, probably one of the best forms of communication that we can use to get our message across,” he said.

“Hopefully we can get people to think about it a bit more and attend upcoming meetings of the group.”