Planning for Tomorrow with NuGen’s Fergus McMorrow

Not In Our Name – NuGen CONsultation

NO NEW HAZARDOUS DEVELOPMENT or

POPULATION INCREASE NEAR SELLAFIELD

says Copeland Local Plan 2001-2016

Copeland Borough Council’s Local Plan for 2001-2016 states:

6.10 HAZARDOUS INSTALLATIONS

• 10.1  Two premises have been notified to the Council as hazardous Installations under arrangements set out in ODPM Circular 04/00 “Planning Controls for Hazardous Substances”. Consultation zones have been established within which it would be undesirable for there to be any significant population increase, and clearly the nearer the site is to the installation the greater the risk. Consultations are carried out with the Health and Safety Executive including, where appropriate, the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. The relevant premises are:-
  1. Sellafield: nuclear reactors and fuel reprocessing (2 mile zone)
  2. Huntsman, Whitehaven: chemical works (1 kilometre zone)

The document referred to in Copeland’s Local Plan “Planning Controls for Hazardous Substances” goes on to say that:

“To implement the requirements of Article 12.1 of the SEVESO II Directive, Regulation 20 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Plan) (England) Regulations 1999 requires that in formulating their general policies in Part 1 of a unitary development plan, local planning authorities shall have regard to the objectives of the Directive. These are:

to prevent major accidents and limit the consequences of such accidents for man and the environment;

in the long term, to maintain appropriate distances between establishments and residential areas, areas of public use and areas of particular natural sensitivity or interest; and,

in relation to existing establishments, for additional technical measures so as not to increase risks to people”

 NuGen, the company behind the diabolic plan for new build on green fields near to Sellafield has a clever chap named Fergus McMorrow as their planning lead in Cumbria. Fergus McMorrow will be well aware of the statements in Copeland Council’s local plan as in 2010 he was the Corporate Director of Planning at Copeland Borough Council.  This revolving door is a corruption of governance and no one does it better and with so little scrutiny than the government backed nuclear industry.

Following on from the 2001-2016 plan is the Copeland Local Plan 2013-2028.

The change in tone is marked.

Gone is the reference “Consultation zones have been established within which it would be undesirable for there to be any significant population increase, and clearly the nearer the site is to the installation the greater the risk.”

To be replaced with: “Consultation will be required with the Officer for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) in the following circumstances:

• Inner Zone (0-6km) Any development leading to an increase in residential accommodation, or likely to cause an influx of non-residential population.
• Outer Zone (6-10km) Development providing residential accommodation, permanent or temporary, for more than 50 people or likely to cause an influx of non- residential population exceeding 50 people.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation is increasingly a rubber stamping arm of government rather than a watch dog protector of the public.  Instead of protection the public are to be “consulted’ over and over again with meaningless consultations which give little indication of the awful truth of dangerous, resource hungry, nuclear sprawl next to the largest concentration of radioactivity on the planet.

Did the revolting revolving door have something to do with the latest Copeland Local Plan watering down the protections of people and the environment and smoothing the way for “Moorside’?

Are Copeland Borough Council and NuGen in breach of Planning regulations?

It would certainly look that way.

This is from the governments own planning guidance for Local Authorities: “When preparing Local Plans, local planning authorities are required to have regard to the prevention of major accidents and limiting their consequences. They must also consider the long-term need for appropriate distances between hazardous establishments and population or environmentally sensitive areas. They must also consider whether additional measures for existing establishments are required so that risks to people in the area are not increased. Detailed requirements are set out in the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

Further guidance can be found under dealing with hazardous substances in plan-making. “

Come on all those with a vested interest in protecting Cumbria

– PROTECT CUMBRIA-  and  STOP MOORSIDE NOW!

By all means answer the sham CONsultation but much more effective is to strongly oppose the plan using your own platforms.  The companies should not be given the kudos that they are being afforded by the media.  Instead Toshiba and GDF SUEZ (name now changed to Engie)   should both be answering charges of past and ongoing human rights abuses.