By Alan Irving

Published at 15:45, Wednesday, 05 November 2008

MILLIONS of pounds are set to flow for Copeland’s benefit now that work is under way on a £20million nuclear development in the area.

Construction of Vault 9 at the low- level radioactive waste repository, Drigg, triggers the release of the first £5 million under an agreement with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Another £10 million will soon follow and thereafter Copeland will receive £1.5 million for every year the repository continues to receive the waste, probably up to 2070.

A Trust board largely made up of councillors will decide where the millions will go for the area’s best benefit.

The NDA said yesterday that the board, known as the Copeland Community Interest Fund, will be formally set up within the next fortnight, and the first £5 million put into the bank. But one member, Coun David Moore at Seascale, stressed: “We won’t be going on a spending spree. One of the first things will be to set up a good investment strategy which will be safe in the current financial climate, because £10 million will accrue a lot of interest. So the interest plus the £1.5 million which will be coming in every year will go a long way in itself to making money available for Copeland and its communities while the fund builds up, we can’t risk spending it all at once.

“Once the £5 million up front comes into our possession, we will set up the first board meeting which should be in the next couple of weeks.

“We’ll then have to decide on our format and the mechanisms for distributing the funds. Much of it will be in line with the NDA’s socio economic policy for helping the area but at the same time we will want to encourage communities to suggest some worthy projects.”

David Moore is chairman of the West Cumbria Sites (nuclear) Stakeholder group and leader of the Tory group on Copeland Council whose leader Elaine Woodburn is also on the trust board along with two local county councillors, Labour’s Tim Knowles, from Rheda, Frizington, and Tory Ray Coles, from Millom.

Representing the NDA is John Clarke, a former Sellafield head of safety.

“John was born in Seascale, he worked at Sellafield and his heart is in Copeland and West Cumbria,” said Coun Moore.

Two independent members are also to be recruited and this may be done by advertising the posts.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk