The expansion was mentioned on Friday during a visit to the jail construction site by Country Labor State MPs, headed by State Member for Kiama, Matt Brown.

During a tour of the jail site the group heard how the jail had provided a huge boost to the local economy, creating employment and using local products.

In fact about two-thirds of all the contractors on the site were from the South Coast, site manager Garry Borg and Department of Commerce project manager Lindsay Charles told the group of four politicians.

Local products used on the site included 50,000 tonnes of road base and 15,000 cubic metres of concrete, all sourced from the Shoalhaven.

The group was also told road problems associated with jail traffic should ease by the end of the week, when the main access road, an extension top Oxford Street, was opened.

Mr Brown said Nowra was fortunate to have the jail.

“Our area is the envy of many towns with Nowra continuing to grow and prosper while others struggle to get by in the midst of the economic downturn,” he said.

“The $151 million investment by the State Government in the South Coast correctional centre project is an extremely important factor in Nowra’s continued economic stability.”

Mr Brown said an average of about 180 workers were on site each day, “and that is expected to grow to more than 300 as construction peaks next year”.

The then completed jail was expected to employ more than 200 full-time staff, pouring more than $10 million a year into the local economy.

The jail site was one of several in the Shoalhaven visited by the Country Labor MPs, along with Manildra and the paper mill at Bomaderry which was recently taken over by Nippon Paper.

Country Labor convenor Christine Robertson MLC said the visit was about “inspecting facilities and speaking with local community groups around Kiama about Country Labor’s role in listening to the things that matter to rural people and then working to effectively address any issues at State level.”

She also promised she and her colleagues would raise issues of concern to the local community on the floor of State Parliament, however it was unclear whether that applied to the condition of the Princes Highway.

“We’d love to be putting more emphasis on it,” Ms Robertson said, but explained so much of the roads budget was being spent on the Pacific Highway there was little left for other major projects.