A board of inquiry is satisfied with a proposal to build a men's prison in South Auckland, but says consultation with the community was barely adequate.
The Environmental Protection Authority has released the draft decision on a Corrections Department proposal for the 1000-bed prison in Wiri, following a board of inquiry hearing in May.
The Manurewa board is against the prison, which would be the third Corrections facility in the community.
The inquiry has found that consultation with the community has been ongoing and the board determined that it had enough information to consider the direct impact on the community.
Judge Harland says overall the agency is satisfied the proposal has met the overall purpose of the Resource Management Act.
It has imposed many conditions, including the minister allocating $250,000 annually for issues directly related to the men's or women's prisons.
But a spokesperson for the Sisters of Mercy Wiri, Sister Anne Hurley, says $250,000 is not enough to fix the issues.
Weymouth Residents & Ratepayers Association chairperson Fred Buck says the prison is not welcome.
"There's more chance of undesirables moving into the area to be closer to fathers or husbands," he says.
Vision Manukau spokesperson Colleen Brown says they want to know where the extra families of prisoners are going to go, when the community is already overwhelmed.
She says another prison is only going to add to the stigma associated with South Auckland.
A final report will be available in September.