Council withdraws from nuclear waste talks

A computer-generated image of a nuclear waste disposal facility

A council has officially withdrawn from talks to bury nuclear waste in the Lincolnshire countryside.

Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), a government body, had earmarked an area near Louth, in East Lindsey, as a possible site for a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF).

At a meeting on Wednesday, East Lindsey District Council's executive board unanimously agreed to end its involvement in the process.

A spokesperson for NWS said: "We acknowledge and accept the decision made by East Lindsey District Council."

Council leader Craig Leyland told the meeting the proposed site would have a "detrimental impact on the countryside"

In 2021, the district council joined a community partnership group with NWS to examine a previous proposal to bury waste at a former gas terminal in Theddlethorpe, near Mablethorpe.

However, NWS later announced it had moved the proposed location of the facility to land between Gayton le Marsh and Great Carlton.

East Lindsey councillors said the new location was prime agricultural land and significantly different from the former gas terminal site.

Council leader Craig Leyland told the meeting the proposed site would have a "detrimental impact on the countryside", adding that the council's involvement in the process had "antagonised and distressed" local communities and residents.

"We have come to a decision point where we feel the best option for us to support our local communities is actually to withdraw from the process," he added.

Councillor Adam Grist, portfolio holder for market towns and rural economy, said: "We were right to enter the discussions however many years ago, and we are right to withdraw now.

"I think the goalposts clearly moved this year," he added.

The former Theddlethorpe gas terminal site was under consideration initially

Lincolnshire County Council remains in the process, but leader Councillor Martin Hill said the authority shared some of ELDC's concerns about the new location.

The authority has indicated it would pull out of talks unless it received "significant" further information about the proposals.

The GDF would see nuclear waste being stored beneath up to 1,000m (3,300ft) of solid rock until its radioactivity had naturally decayed.

Three areas had previously been shortlisted by NWS - Mid Copeland and South Copeland in Cumbria and Lincolnshire, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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