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At their meeting on Wednesday, 4th June, Whicham Parish Council agreed to reject the Kirksanton/Haverigg Area of Focus and will make representation to Nuclear Waste Services and Cumberland Council asking for the area to be removed from the process. Well done Whicham Parish Council.

Lincolnshire County Council’s Executive has confirmed it will withdraw from the Community Partnership with Nuclear Waste Services — stopping the plans for a nuclear waste dump.

This is a success for democracy and the excellent campaign fought by Guardians of the East Coast and many, many, locals who opposed the plan.

Well done to all concerned. This means the dump will likely be on the West Coast. There appears to be little support in Cumberland Council to oppose it being in either South or Mid Copeland.

Here is a link https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/dysfunctional-review-reveals-south-copeland-gdf-partnership-at-war/ to a damning review of the review of the South Copeland GDF Community Partnership. If you live in this area (South Copeland – now called Cumberland) you must read this highly critical review.

Guardians of the East Coast have produced The Nuclear War for Lincolnshire which is their latest report and shares their actions, plus local polls and the impacts a GDF would have on their area Surprise, surprise (not really) there are many similarities with what is happening in South Copeland. It remains to be seen whether the new Lincolnshire Council will agree to withdraw from the process.

Nuclear Free Local Authorities have produced the following press release:

The UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities have written to Cumberland Council in response to a consultation on their future Housing Strategy with a warning that the construction of the Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) could lead to a ‘Sizewell C effect’ on housing in Copeland.

Campaigners in Suffolk opposed to a new nuclear plant have attributed a massive rise in the cost of local rented properties to the ‘Sizewell C effect’, with sitting tenants threatened with eviction in favour of lettings to highly paid nuclear construction workers who are better able to pay doubled rents.

Cumberland Council is developing a 15-year Housing Strategy to ‘improve access to affordable housing, bring new housing to the market, improve the condition of housing stock to enable people to live in safe, warm homes and increase health and well-being across Cumberland.’  The Housing Strategy will be adopted by the Council’s Executive in July.

The NFLAs are concerned that the GDF could have a big impact on housing in Mid- or South-Copeland should either area be selected for the development, and that the new Housing Strategy needs to take account of this possibility. Although respondents are asked to submit their views online, we had a lot to say so we sent a letter.

The GDF represents an undersea repository for Britain’s legacy and future high-level radioactive waste; most of this is currently stored at Sellafield. Nuclear Waste Services is responsible for finding a site for the facility. Three ‘Areas of Focus’ in the Mid- and South-Copeland GDF Search Areas are being considered. It will be a massive civil engineering project involving building a surface site to receive regular waste shipments by train and a network of sub-surface tunnels and vaults 200 – 1000 metres beneath the surface. Tunnels will extend out under the seabed up to 22 km from the coast. NWS officials have described it as equivalent to building ‘several Channel Tunnels’. Construction is expected to take at least ten years.

The NFLAs believe that the principal contractor will be a big business with a track record for delivering large-scale civil engineering projects on the international stage. Such a business would have their own specialist workforce, and also approved sub-contractors with their own staff, which they would want to bring with them to site.  A large construction workforce migrating into Mid- or South-Copeland would be seeking long-term lettings, or house purchases, whilst they build out a project lasting over a decade.

Where this has previously occurred at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, where a nuclear power plant is under construction, and at Sizewell C in Suffolk, where enabling works are underway in readiness to build a similar plant, rents have risen massively displacing local tenants and buy-to-let speculators have moved in driving out residents wishing to purchase homes in their community. This is what one resident called the ‘Sizewell C effect’.

In his letter to Housing Portfolio Holder, Councillor Emma Williamson, and Director of Adult Social Care and Housing, Chris Jones-King, NFLA Chair Councillor Lawrence O’Neill has asked the next Housing Strategy to consider the long-term impact of a GDF on the housing market now; to get a grip on the breakdown on its social-housing stock, and unmet demand, in Mid- and South Copeland; and establish a Task and Finish Group specifically to look at the housing challenges presented by the GDF.

The public consultation opened on 14 April and closes on 12 May. Details can be found at https://consult.cumberland.gov.uk/housing-strategy

At the annual Whicham Parish Council the following motion was unanimously agreed: “Whicham Parish Council issues a press statement rejecting the Area of Focus within its parish and makes representation to Nuclear Waste Services and Cumberland Council that the Area of Focus be removed from consideration as a potential GDF”

There was a very good turn out from the Parish with support from Bank Head estate residents (Haverigg).

The motion will go to the next Parish Council meeting in June.

The ordinary monthly Parish Council meeting in May discussed the external review of South Copeland GDF Community Partnership, which has not met for several months now. It was agreed that once the review has been published the Council will decide whether to remain members.

Will hold its annual parish meeting today at 2 p.m. at Kirksanton Village Hall. This is for Whicham parishioners and priority will be given to them although others may attend to observe. Only Whicham parishioners can speak and vote. The theme of discussion is the GDF with speakers local MP Michelle Scrogham and a representative from NWS. Millom Town Council will be holding their annual parish meeting the last Wednesday of May, 7 p.m. at the Methodist Hall when parishioners from Millom and Haverigg can raise issues which concern the parish.

The short discussion at the meeting of Millom Town Council about holding a public meeting on the pros and cons of hosting a GDF here, and their agreement of the motion “We, Millom Town Council, reject the area of focus as being beneficial to Bank Head” was filmed. Here is a link to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbLodKcBjr8

Around 40 people attended the meeting of Millom Town Council on Wednesday, 26th March 2025 to protest about the proposed focus area for a possible GDF west of Haverigg.

The event was filmed by a local film-maker – so looking forward to seeing this!

Jan Bridget asked MTC (again) to hold a public meeting to look at the negative effects of a GDF being sited here; after many comments by members of the public, the Council agreed to organise a public meeting to look at the positives and negatives of a GDF being sited here – they agreed to look at this at their next meeting in April.

The Council also agreed the following motion: “We, Millom Town Council, reject the focus area as beneficial to Bank Head.”

As noted below: 

At the last MTC meeting in February the council agreed to include two items on the agenda for their next meeting in March: To discuss whether to hold a public meeting to look at the potential negative effects of the GDF on our area and to discuss the motion “We, Millom Town Council, reject the area of focus as being beneficial to Bank Head.” The meeting will be held on Wednesday, 26th March.

However, this is NOT what the draft minutes of the February meeting state:

“A member of the public who had recently held a public meeting for residents of Bank head, Haverigg and Kirksanton. It was asked if MTC would consider putting forward the following to Cumberland Authority “(the notes of the public meeting were shared with the council and the council agreed to allocate sometime in the next meeting to discuss this more fully and the motion request of the council The Chair informed the public that this will be placed on the agenda next month and that NWS was arranging a further pop in event in Haverigg. “ 

The above is incorrect. It says nothing about them agreeing to discuss a public meeting.  Now this could simply be an error.  Or it could be yet another way of trying to avoid any public discussion (or, indeed, discussion by the Council) about the potential negative effects of siting a GDF here.   And there is only one item on the agenda, the motion from Bank Head residents.