You'll get new schools, hospital and housing pledges minister
Last updated 12:39, Thursday, 24 July 2008
Welcome to day one of west Cumbria’s £2billion future. The area was yesterday rebranded Britain’s Energy Coast and asked to lead the country’s nuclear and renewable energy industries.
Business secretary John Hutton unveiled a vision to create 16,000 jobs and pump £800million into the UK economy in a ceremony at Sellafield.
But he stopped short of answering the question all of the site’s 10,000 workers want to hear – will the area get a new nuclear power station?
If not it opens up the bizarre prospect of west Cumbria being asked to become a world leader in nuclear energy production without actually producing any nuclear energy.
What the community definitely will get is a new acute hospital, new schools, new housing, improved road and rail links, arts and sports venues and a university campus.
Mr Hutton promised that west Cumbria will become a “dynamic, vibrant place to live and work for decades to come”.
He said the area would lead the fight against climate change, help secure energy supplies and end Britain’s dependence on oil by developing new techniques in nuclear production and refining renewable sources like wind and wave power.
He admitted the scheme could see more windfarms built on the Cumbrian countryside and tidal turbines erected along the coast.
Thanking him for his speech, Copeland MP Jamie Reed quipped: “I hope to see you back here in a few years time cutting the ribbon on two new reactors.”
That was as close as anyone got to discussing the possibility of a new Sellafield.
On that the issue, the Government insists it will not make the decision on where new reactors are sited – private companies will do that. It was generally agreed that yesterday’s launch was a useful “marker in the ground” in the race to host one.
Mr Reed revealed to a packed launch party that the Energy Coast idea came during a trip to Silicon Valley in California.
He said: “It sprang out of a visit to Silicon Valley, one of the most aspitarional places to live and work in the world.
“I went to see what was happening and spoke to business and civic leaders there. The area used to be the US A-bomb testing ground – now you wouldn’t believe that.
“It goes to show that we can do this, it’s achieveable and we intend to do what we say.”
On his return to Britain, he set about putting together the Energy Coast proposal with Workington MP Tony Cunningham. Then Prime Minister Tony Blair gave his backing in April 2007.
The scheme was a response to the Government’s announcement that Sellafield would be wound down and eventually closed.
The expected 25,000 job losses that would cause, and the subsequent catastrophic blow to the west Cumbria economy had demanded action for the survival of the area.
But Mr Reed and Mr Cunningham were keen for that action to come from the private sector, not handouts from Government.
Mr Reed added: “It is time to stop looking towards Westminster to solve our problems and begin looking to ourselves. The Energy Coast plan will begin to wean west Cumbria off its dependence on state handouts.
“West Cumbria is home to one of the most lucrative industrial complexes in the world in Sellafield, yet nearby towns and villages still play host to neglect and deprivation. People are right to ask: ‘Why do we allow this to happen?’. This plan is there to change that.”
Mr Cunningham paid tribute to Mr Reed’s work and stressed that the plan was not a vague, woolly policy document but a concrete commitment.
He said: “This is not about Jamie Reed or myself, it is about the people of west Cumbria.
“A boy or girl from Egremont, Maryport or Cleator Moor can leave school, go to a brand new college, go to the nuclear skills academy, then go to university here in west Cumbria, our own university, then catch a bus down to Westlakes and get a PhD and never leave west Cumbria. That’s not a dream, it’s happening now.
“If you had told people 20 years ago that would happen they wouldn’t have believed you.”
Rose Mathisen, nuclear opportunities director for West Lakes Renaissance, said: “When the decision was made to decommission Sellafield it was literally: ‘Will the last person out of west Cumbria please turn off the lights’. Today we have seen that come full circle.
“We are already a centre of nuclear excellence, with 40 per cent of the UK’s nuclear skills. We have the highest number of research and development PhD graduates in the country working here and a highly skilled workforce.
“The Government will now decide whether a new reactor is built here. There are still issues about connectivity, but we are striving to make this the most attractive site possible.
“This is a marker in the ground, we have a high level of support for the industry here and we tick many of the boxes the private sector will be asking.”
