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Cumbria councillors misunderstood nuclear dump vote – minister

“There was not any single reason for our rejection: it was an accumulation of ten reasons. It’s a huge disappointment that the Government have failed to recognise the depth of feeling in Cumbria.”

By Emily Parsons

Last updated at 12:17, Wednesday, 13 March 2013

Councillors who ruled Cumbria out of the running to host a nuclear repository “misunderstood the process” the Energy Minister claims.

Baroness Verma

Baroness Verma was responding to a letter from leader of Cumbria County Council Eddie Martin and deputy Stewart Young, in which they outlined the council’s decision and reasons behind it.

The Energy Minister’s response, which has been published online, refutes some of the reasons given by the council for voting against progressing to the next stage of the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) process.

Baroness Verma wrote: “In responding, I also feel it is necessary to note there were a range of errors in your letter and to draw attention to some key points, which I believe betray a misunderstanding of the process and the Government’s position.

“This is all the more surprising given your response to me in which you accepted the assurances and commitments the Government had made.”

The Cumbrian councillors said in their letter that while they “appreciated the minister’s considerable endeavours” to address their concerns, they have considerable anxieties.

Among these, the pair cited the worry surrounding the fact that the “right of withdrawal” had not been enshrined in statute. In a firm rebuttal, Baroness Verma responded that this had not been done because “councils do not need statutory powers to withdraw from a voluntary process”.

She continued: “Nonetheless, at your request, we undertook to make the Right of Withdrawal statutory, subject to future agreement with local Decision Making Bodies that this was the best option. This form of words was agreed with you in advance.”

Mr Martin responded: “We went to considerable lengths and took an enormous amount of time to get to grips with all the complex scenarios.

“There was not any single reason for our rejection: it was an accumulation of ten reasons. It’s a huge disappointment that the Government have failed to recognise the depth of feeling in Cumbria.”

March 13, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized