Cumberland Council has welcomed plans to unlock land at Moorside in West Cumbria for new clean energy generation.
The news announced today (Tuesday 10 June), formed part of a broader announcement by the Prime Minister giving the go ahead to other major new nuclear projects across the country ahead of the Spending Review.
The Prime Minister confirmed that land at Moorside, being referred to as Pioneer Park, will be freed up to be leased and marketed by a local development corporation to pave the way for a new clean energy development, that may involve a new nuclear power plant in the form of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
Cumberland’s four MPs, the leader of Cumberland Council, the leaders of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Sellafield Ltd and local union and business representatives set up the Cumberland Nuclear Future Board last year.
Multiple meetings have been held with Ministers to try to resolve the issues with use of and access to the land. Agreement has now been reached and work is underway to make the land available. A market engagement process with nuclear and other clean energy developers will be launched this summer.
Cllr Mark Fryer, Leader of Cumberland Council, said:
“A clean energy development at Moorside is great news for Cumberland and West Cumbria in particular, as it would help grow and diversify our future economy.
“The main driver for me is generating enough power at Moorside, by whatever means, to attract industry and technology to Cumberland that will sustain our economy and create jobs for west Cumbrians long after the inevitable downturn in decommissioning at Sellafield.
“While I am open to all clean energy developments that benefit our community, new nuclear build, in the form of Small Modular Reactors, would unquestionably provide us with the most power capacity for the size of land being made available and give us our best chance of achieving our ultimate goal of attracting industry, technology and jobs into our community.
“The Council is fully committed to working with the NDA to understand how we can deliver maximum value and benefit from the land at Moorside for the local community.”