New council begins assessing nuclear partnership membership

Prior to the local elections, former Conservative Leader of the Council had signalled a potential withdrawal from Nuclear Waste Services’ Community Partnership scheme.

The government-appointed Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) is exploring the option of having a ‘geological disposal facility’ (GDF) under the North Sea in Lincolnshire, with an access point now proposed between Gayton le Marsh and Great Carlton, having previously earmarked the former gas terminal at Theddlethorpe.

NWS set up the Community Partnership in 2021 to share information with local residents about what a geological disposal facility is and how it might affect the area.

To progress with a Lincolnshire option for the site, they need at least one local council – Lincolnshire County Council or East Lindsey District Council – to engage with the process.

East Lindsey District Council withdrew from the partnership in April of this year.

Coun Hill had said: “Whilst we have tried to maintain an open mind towards the plans, we are now several years on from this first being suggested, and big questions still remain to be answered about the scale of the development and how this waste would get there.

“We had planned to put the decision on whether to remain within the partnership to a public vote next year, but it has become increasingly apparent that the community is getting frustrated with the uncertainty and slow pace of this process.

“Unless NWS can provide significant further details about their plans that reassure the local community and comprehensively explain the benefits and costs, it is my intention to withdraw from the process altogether.”

Reform UK group leader on Lincolnshire County Council, Coun Sean Matthews, said on Thursday (May 8) that as the newly elected group leader at the council he had started the process to look at the council’s membership of the Nuclear Waste Services Community Partnership.

He said: “If the council decides to withdraw from the partnership, this would stop Lincolnshire being considered as a location for a GDF and give residents and businesses in this area of the county peace of mind.”

The county council’s membership of the Community Partnership will be considered at Overview and Scrutiny Management Board on May 29, and a final decision made at Executive on June 3.

Simon Hughes, NWS Siting and Communities Director, had said in March: “NWS has held many public events and produced dedicated websites, newsletters, and met regularly with local people and stakeholders. We have to date granted over £2million to support local community projects for engaging in the process. Longer-term, a GDF has the potential to provide the host community with significant opportunities for a local workforce, skills, and education, as well as many other benefits such as improvements to local transport and infrastructure.

“The UK Government’s GDF siting process in England and Wales is consent-based and requires NWS to identify both a suitable site and a willing host community. This means if the community does not ultimately express support for a GDF, it won’t be built there.”