Louth MP welcomes council's decision to pull out of nuclear waste dump group

The Theddlethorpe Community Partnership has been set up by Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), the government agency that has earmarked two possible East Lindsey locations for the dump, known as a GDF (geological disposal facility).

Its purpose is to explain the proposals to residents and councillors, and to persuade them that the GDF would be safe and secure in the Lincolnshire area.

Initially, East Lindsey District Council agreed to join the partnership while remaining neutral in its stance over the dump.

But now it has withdrawn, claiming the process had “not been effective or informative in the way we had anticipated or hoped for”.

This followed the revelation that NWS was now focusing on a site for the dump on agricultural land close to the inland villages of Gayton le Marsh and Great Carlton, rather than its initial, preferred coastal location of Theddlethorpe.

Coun Craig Leyland, the Conservative leader of the council, said this was a blatant switch from a ‘brownfield’ site and “would scar several kilometres of farmland on the margins of the Lincolnshire Wolds”.

Now MP Victoria Atkins has echoed this view. She said: “When the latest proposals were revealed by NWS, I immediately called a meeting with Coun Leyland and Coun Martin Hill, the leader of Lincolnshire County Council, to reiterate local residents’ opposition to a dump.

"Therefore, I welcome the announcement by Coun Leyland that his council will withdraw from the community partnership.

"From the very start, four years ago, when plans were revealed for a nuclear waste dump on our coastline. I have campaigned against it.

"We are all horrified by the prospect of such a monstrous carbuncle, and the industrial wastelands that would be built around it, being imposed on our corner of England.

"Local residents must be listened to, and I will continue to fight for them and our area.”

NWS thanked the district council for its “engagement and commitment” and said it understood the decision to withdraw from the process.

Its sitings and communities director, Simon Hughes, said: “The council’s participation has played a key role in facilitating public dialogue and providing people with opportunities to learn more about the process, its implications and potential benefits.

“We remain fully committed to working with Lincolnshire County Council as the relevant, principal local authority in the community partnership as we continue the search for a suitable site for the GDF.”

For now, the county council says it will remain in the community partnership, also adopting a neutral stance.

However, leader Coun Hill admits that it shares some of the district council’s concerns about the new farmland location.

He said: “Unlike other nationally significant infrastructure projects, such as pylons and large-scale solar farms, residents will choose whether the GDF goes ahead.

"We're clear thar residents should be given that opportunity as soon as possible.”

NWS has always promised that the dump will not go ahead if the local community is against it and that the whole plan will be put to a public vote in 2027. But Ms Atkins is insisting that such a vote should be brought forward to later this year.