FOREST: Protests grow over riverside 'mega' N-site
THE news that Oldbury-Shepperdine has been selected as a new nuclear generation site by the government has sparked a wave of protests on the east bank of the Severn.
So far the scale of the new development does not seem to have impacted on communities on this side of the river, but with four cooling towers of up to 200m, the structure is likely to have high visual impact here – not to mention other worries about generation nuclear power in the region.
On Saturday more than 200 people representing Shepperdine Against Nuclear Energy (SANE) turned out at Thornbury Leisure Centre to make the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) aware of their concerns.
MP Steve Webb and Prospective Conservative Candidate Matthew Riddle attended and participated in a silent protest outside the consultation meeting.
Reg Illingworth of SANE said: “It is important that we grow our level of support beyond the 400 names on our database. As Peter McDonald, deputy head of the Office of Nuclear Development said, some of the sites can be de-selected. It is not a done deal. We will make sure that Oldbury is deselected.”
SANE are planning to raise the profile of the cause at the next part of the consultation in Thornbury on March 4, which features a presentation of a key point of the E.ON and RWE npower-sponsored development by newly-formed company Horizon.
Oldbury was one of 10 ‘preferred’ sites for new N-plants announced by Ed Milliband in November. It has been estimated the project could create up to 800 permanent jobs and around 5,000 during construction.