Last updated at 16:52, Friday, 11 January 2013

Half a million pounds has been earmarked to protect the Lake District’s image if councils agree to look for a nuclear waste burial site in West Cumbria.

The Government has earmarked the £500,000 for a nationwide advertising campaign on top of £3.25 million already spent by the Department of Energy on the repository process.

Another opinion poll is also likely to be held, this time into how a deep underground repository in the area would affect perception of the wider public.

It all depends now on whether Cumbria County Council’s cabinet, along with the Copeland and Allerdale council executives, agree to a West Cumbria site investigation.

If they vote ‘yes’ at their meetings on January 30, the Government has set money aside to launch the nationwide advertising campaign over a six-month period.

Copeland Council leader Elaine Woodburn felt £500,000 would be well spent if it meant being able to counter negativity spread by anti-repository groups. “It’s about people’s perspective outside Cumbria mainly, which is why it would be a national campaign, but it all depends on January 30.

“The MRWS opinion poll has shown that 68 per cent of people in Copeland support taking part in site search, 51 per cent in Allerdale and 50 per cent in the rest of Cumbria.”

Copeland MP Jamie Reed said he felt the money could have been better spent; “on the local NHS, children or the elderly”.

“If it is to be on advertising I hope it is spent wisely,” he said. “It goes without saying this money won’t be spent in west Cumbria.”

“The Cumbrian brand is strong and strengthening all the time, as is the Lakes brand, and they have grown alongside development of the nuclear industry.”

In a letter to the councils ahead of the January 30 vote, energy minister Baroness Verma repeated the government’s commitment to make the right of withdrawal legally binding.

First published at 16:50, Friday, 11 January 2013
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk