NOTES FROM A MEETING OF BANK HEAD RESIDENTS WITH FOUR LOCAL COUNCILLORS: HAVERIGG: CLLRS BROWN AND FAULKNER AND CUMBERLAND: CLLRS KELLY AND PRATT. 22ND FEBRUARY 2025.
43 people attended the meeting – the majority were from Bank Head and nearby who have had letters from land agent about the GDF.
Jan Bridget, Introduced herself: she moved here five years ago and would not have moved here had she known about the nuclear dump. She jointly set up Millom and District Against the Nuclear Dump Facebook group a few years ago [2022] and later set up the South Copeland Against the GDF website. She is also Chair of Millom and District Local History Society. She said she organised the meeting having met two Bank Head residents whilst seeing local MP Michelle Scrogham about the GDF. She chaired the meeting.
She said the purpose of the meeting was to give people who live at Bank Head and close by the opportunity to voice their fears about the possibility of a GDF (nuclear dump) being sited next to where they live.
The Councillors introduced themselves: Cllr Janice Brown, Haverigg Councillor; Councillor Simone Faulkner who is current mayor; Councillor Bob Kelly and Councillor Andy Pratt, both Cumberland Councillors.
The following is not an exact recording but gives a flavour of the key concerns expressed at the meeting.
• Attendee: Need public support. Main road up North Lane – will this be the main transport route? Devaluing houses, houses not selling, compensation? Farmer’s lands? Consultation? Natterjack toads and birds; toads migrate into North Lane and gardens of houses there. Combe View unadopted road, full of pot holes, travesty.
• Attendee: Will I be made to sell my house in the future? Planning for extension???
• Attendee: Farmer – do I build a barn?
• Attendee: What do the council know?
• Cllr Brown: never been told at Millom Town Council what is going to happen if geology is OK. No objections. No compulsory purchase and prison won’t close. Never been discussed despite chair of MTC being chair of South Copeland GDF Community Partnership.
• Attendee: Residents did not want Councillor Ged McGrath to attend.
• Attendee: Survey in 2009 conducted four boreholes but unable to access it online.
• Cllr Pratt didn’t know anything about it. Only knows what the public know. One person put Haverigg//Kirksanton forward. No transport routes identified. Unlikely North Lane, they want A roads and rail. No legislation that allows for compulsory purchase. Once consent order is given property protection scheme but not worth paper it’s written on. I’ve told them that. Five criteria, one of which will never meet i.e. ‘compelling need.’ For new nuclear plant boreholes wouldn’t go as deep to give them the information they need now. Four square metres is the maximum needed and need a minimum of one square metre. Next 18 months will be checking wildlife, etc., toads, prison. If area floods would move the site.
• Cllr Kelly: inland sites were not suitable, were looking under Black Combe, found area of rock that wasn’t suitable
• Attendee: Windfarm planned years ago, didn’t do it because of flood water table.
• Cllr Pratt: Headworks would be on land. If flooding won’t happen.
• Attendee: Bought two years ago on Bank Head and had we known wouldn’t have bought.
• Cllr Pratt: no search comes up until planning permission is sought – that is the legislation.
• Tim Kendall: is it not Cumberland policy?
Cllr Pratt: the potential site has been in the public domain for four years. Solicitors, land agents should have made people aware. Due diligence of solicitors.
• Attendee: The whole thing is a big black cloud hanging over us; want representatives for us not for GDF.
• Cllr Pratt, no councillors have been asked if they are for or against it. He is for a GDF somewhere.
• Attendee: we want a public vote now.
• Cllr Pratt is chair of Mid Copeland GDF Community Partnership and in favour of the process.
• Attendee: Residents had to call the meeting, MTC written to Ministry of Justice about prison but not contacted residents!
• Attendee: Not National Park, why not?
• Cllr Pratt: anyone can apply for funding, it is there.
• Attendee: Basics and housing are issues; MTC/CC – to them Bank Head doesn’t exist, no lighting, just get bins emptied.
• Cllr Pratt: tell us what you would like?
• Attendee? Prison owns the estate?
• Tim Kendal: ~Cllrs know same as folk – Community Partnership should be a conduit between developer and the public. Tim has sent 100’s of requests and it was decided not to relay questions and concerns back to the public as they said they ‘didn’t know where the site was going to be.’ They have been aware where it is since 2020. MTC voted to come off Community Partnership and it is under external review. Information been stifled by the Partnership.
• Cllr Pratt: have you not been to public events?
• Chair: events been about giving information from the view of the developer. Sep 2023 community forum with members of public identifying positives and negatives; they promised Impact Report on negatives, still waiting for it. It should be Millom Town Council organising todays event, not me! Someone thanked Jan.
• Cllr Brown: MTC in same boat as everyone. It has to go somewhere – if it is suitable then it has to be here. But hopes it is not suitable.
• Cllr Kelly: before moving to the area I was totally against nuclear, due to problem of waste, but had a change of view because of local dependence on employment . No-one wants it but it isn’t safe where it is, if it has to go somewhere it has to go to the safest place. Two Mid Copeland, one here, one East Lincolnshire. Will have to fight and join together if it does come through, will help folk.
• Attendee: Why here? We already have Sellafield.
• Attendee: No opportunities to ask questions at events organised by NWS.
• Cllr Kelly: have to check public opinion – can only vote when decision to be made . Has to be away from Sellafield and if it’s the safest place then it has to be here.
• Cllr Pratt: Cumberland Council are willing to be in the process
• Cllr Faulkner: spoken to GDF this morning, there is going to be a public meeting held in Haverigg Cricket Club.
• Attendee: Voting: who ask?
• Cllr Kelly: people in the area who are affected.
• Cllr Pratt: Millom Without and Millom.
• Tim Kendal: Simon Hughes, head of NWS siting said people living alongside the GDF; can do that anytime!
• Attendee: they have not identified the host community.
• Cllr Pratt: area needs to be identified before a vote can take place
• Gail Crossman, Bank Head resident, read out the following statement:
“Good afternoon all. My name, for those of you that do not know me, is Gail Crossman and my husband and I live at 58 Bank Head. Due to health issues we need a bungalow and need to live closer to family who already live in the Barrow area.
I sold my late Mum’s house last September within ten days and over the asking price. We have just sold our property but we had to drop our price considerably. The buyer is local and is aware of the GDF plans. However, my husband and I are still against the GDF.
The only people who can stop this are Cumberland Council or the developers – why just these people? Who gave them the right to dictate our house prices and our future? There is talk of a vote. Which areas? In my personal opinion it should just be the areas that are directly impacted on – Kirksanton, Bank Head and any property that received a letter. Thank you for listening.”
• Attendee: process too long – stuck in limbo, selling up is not a realistic option for us, affecting house prices, impact on older people.
• Cllr Pratt: completely agree. Need different compensation scheme.
• Atttendee: land estate agents at a meeting last week knew the house prices would deteriorate, will be devalued, cannot afford to sell at a loss, could we be reassured that they would have to make up any difference in price?
• Gail: still waiting for land agent to get back to her; someone else said the same.
• Attendee: Felt so let down by the lack of information.
• Cllr Kelly: the words ‘directly involved can vote.’
• Attendee: they will not define what that means.
• Attendee: what about landowners – are they part of the scheme
• Cllr Pratt: yes.
• Attendee: could MTC not commission a vote now so they have a mandate now
• Tim Kendal: Whicham did it 18 months ago and 77% were against it. They are still part of the Community Partnership but their representative has an underlying understanding of what parishioners want, MTC could do that. Simon Hughes said Millom doesn’t come into it, people ‘living alongside’ Whicham, Kirksanton, Bank Head. Can make representation to councillors – what steps are the councillors going to take? Next steps?
• Cllr Pratt: will be taking it back.
• Cllr Kelly: will be taking back concerns about land and house prices.
• Attendee: questions at Partnership meetings not answered.
• Angela: land and stables in area of focus – thinking of setting up a small business, what support is around? Who is going to get back to us?
• Attendee: Cllr Kelly is on Planning, Nuclear Services and Executive committees at Cumberland Council, also on Millom Town Council and Community Partnership. He has a lot of influence.
• Cllr Kelly: have access to committees
• Tim Kendal: Seascale Parish Council have rejected their focus area. Councillors have known about this since 2020.
• Attendee: 30 Jan two letters, one to her and another to her husband. We have now appointed ….. [land agent] to contact them. I had to research the company; policies, framework; leaflets explaining what was happening should have been included with letter, not just a website address to look at. Why didn’t all the information come with the letter?
• Cllr Pratt: argued letter should have gone out sooner.
• Attendee: Need to do boreholes.
• Chair, read out proposal that the Haverigg Councillors take the following motion to Millom Town Council: “We, Millom Town Council, reject the area of focus as being beneficial to Bank Head.” A vote was taken and it was unanimously agreed that the Haverigg Councillors should do this.
• Cllr Brown said she would do this but it would not be on the agenda for this next Wednesday’s meeting as it is full and there is no ‘any other business’ so it will be on the March meeting. Various attendees said they would attend the meeting this coming Wednesday and the one in March.
• Chair read out a proposal that the Cumberland Councillors take the following motion to Cumberland Council: “That Cumberland Council exercise their right to withdraw the focus area of Haverigg and Kirksanton from being a proposed site for a GDF.”
• Cllr Kelly said he cannot take it back as he is on the Executive committee. Cllr Pratt said he would find out the appropriate committee to send it to.
• It was also agreed that a survey, using the same wording as Whicham Parish Council had used, would be circulated to residents of Bank Head and nearby only. Some suggested Haverigg but it was pointed out, Millom Town Council should do that as it was a much bigger area than Town Head. In any case, as Simon Hughes had said, it was those people living alongside the proposed site that should have the vote and the Chair pointed out the MP Michelle Scrogham had suggested a survey of those most affected.
Jan to liaise with Gail and others to do the survey.
• It was also noted that there would be a public meeting in March in Kirksanton which folk could attend. This was being organised by Whicham Parish Council!
• The councillors were thanked for coming, as were the attendees.
• The meeting closed at 3 p.m.
• Names and contact details had been taken for many of the participants who want to be kept informed about what is happening.
