• New Preparatory Department for children aged 7 – 11 • GCSE Programme encouraging academic excellence

• Dedicated Sixth Form for A Level provision • Full and Weekly Boarding offered

• Strong pastoral care provided by our experienced residential staff

• Varied programme of extra-curriculum activities included in the fees

• Wide ranging sports facilities including refurbished indoor swimming pool, 9 hole golf course and Golf Academy

with PGA Coaching Professional

• Specialised Learning Support Unit providing support for pupils with dyslexia, dyscalculia and other specific learning difficulties

For more information and to arrange a visit please contact

The Admissions Department 01946 828010

or see our website www.st-bees-school.org

St. Bees SchoolHMC- Coeducational

Day Pupils 7-18 Boarding Pupils 11-18

We are holding our

Entrance Examinations (11+)Saturday 27th February 2010, 9.00am

and our

Music Scholarship AuditionsMonday 1st March 2010, 9.00am

Contact us for more details

Bursaries for children attending St. Bees School are available

for day, weekly, full and flexi boarding places.

When agreed, bursaries range from £500 per annum to 100% of the School fees.

INTRODUCTION2

THIS product, the third of a quarterlypublication with associated web contentlinked to www.britainsenergycoast.com, is brought to you by the Cumbria-based CN Media Group. The team behindthe product are based in CN group’scentres in Workington, Whitehaven, Barrowand Carlisle.Z For advertising enquiries contact theBusiness Development Unit on 01228612237/612248.Z For general editorial enquiries contactJonathan Lee on 01229 840134.Z For website enquiries contact Nick Turneron 01228 612321.Z To speak to an energy reporter in Barrow,Whitehaven or Workington contact:Z Alan Irving (Whitehaven News) 01946595147.Z Clare Kinrade (Workington Times andStar) 01900 607627.Z John Simpson (North-West Evening Mail,Barrow) 01229 840144.Z Statistics used in this publication weretaken from recent reports by theDepartment of Energy and Climate Changeincluding reports on Energy statistics andthe UK Low Carbon Transition Plan.

Published by CN Group Ltd, NewspaperHouse, Dalston Road, Carlisle, CA2 5UA.

Year of optimism

NERGY has never beenmore in focus. Globallythere’s the aftermathof the Copenhagen cli-mate change confer-

ence.Nationally there’s this winter’s big

freeze which brought the coldest condi-tions to this country for a generation.

Across the county there’s the after-math of the floods – and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebuild our in-frastructure. All the agencies, whichcame together at the time of the floods,did a superb job to firstly unite thecommunity, and then drive it forward atits time of need.

That same energy and co-operationnow needs to be harnessed to help re-build the infrastructure of Cumbria forthe long-term. That means buildingroads, rail links, and bridges fitting fora world-leading Britain’s EnergyCoast™ in Cumbria.

The opportunities for work and life-style which come from the thrivingenergy sector in this part of the worldare unique. We need to build on thoseopportunities.We are coming up to ageneral election. And for all the reasonsstated above Britain’s Energy Coast™is now firmly on the national and inter-national political agenda.

Fittingly, we have interviews in thisthird edition of our Britain’s EnergyCoast™ special with all the key politicalplayers. Whether by this summer it’sGordon Brown, David Cameron or NickClegg who end up holding the balance ofpower at number 10 you can read theirviews right here. They are fully awarewhat Cumbria has gone through duringthe floods. They are fully aware whatopportunities there are in this area tohelp deliver Britain’s energy vision forthe future.

It is clear the pressing issues of cli-mate change and energy security tran-scend politics – this is not an issue thatwill go away, it is critical we tackle themhead-on for the benefit of future genera-tions.

It is vital that the energy coastremains at the forefront of our energypolicy, and that it builds on its position,not just as a regional, or national brand,but that it grows to become recognisedand respected around the globe.

It’s a big challenge. But with the com-mitment and energy of all involved, andwhich was so evident during the floods,it is one more challenge on which Cum-bria has the power to deliver.

JONATHAN LEEPublishing Director

North West Evening MailBarrow, Cumbria

E

OLITICAL big hitterBrian Wilson is look-ing for some big hitsto leave West Cumbri-ans in no doubt that itwill achieve its as-pirations.

“We willbe judged on delivery, byresults,” says the chair-man of the Britain’s En-ergy Coast West Cum-bria Board, adding:“The sooner the bet-ter.

“Some terriblethings havehappened recently,the area is startingto recover from thedevastation.

“As an organisa-tion we are doingeverything possible tohelp the governmentand other agencies, but atthe same time we are stick-ing by our strategy which isto achieve in the longerterm.

“The reality is that it will taketime to put people and thingsin place and that’s what wehave been doing over thelast six months.

“As we speak wehave just had a meet-ing to consider theplans and strategyfor the next few

Pyears and very soon we will be coming outwith a clear cut list of priorities. There aresome good projects. My own impression inthe short-term I have been involved is thatmaybe some of the things have been talkedabout far too long with nothing concretehappening.”

Labour’s ex-Energy ministerwent on: “Our priority is very

much to deliver and veryquickly with some bighits. People want to seesomething done,something tangible and

that is only right.”Britain’s Energy

Coast West Cum-bria was

formerly knownas West CumbriaVision.

“The name haschanged to “re-flect the shift infocus from visionto action while atthe same timefirmly aligning it-

self with the £2bnEnergy Coast pro-

gramme for

West Cumbria and Furness”.“While it is important to have a vision

when we are seeking to build a new eco-nomy based on low carbon energy it iseven more important to deliver projectswhich will make a real difference to thecommunities we are here to serve.

“This is now the challenge which theteam is engaged in to make sure we graspthe opportunities that clearly exist.”

Brian Wilson and his team are drawingon expertise in energy, infrastructure, bigbusiness and social enterprise to deliverthe energy coast programme across Cope-land and Allerdale aimed at creatingaround 16,000 jobs.

First big project to be completed wasEnergus, the nuclear skills trainingacademy at Lillyhall, opened last June.

The focus is now on Whitehaven’s AlbionSquare commercial development and thePow Beck Valley sports stadium inWhitehaven, the Port of Workingtoninvestment programme, building the casefor nuclear build in Copeland, an extens-ive skills and innovation development pro-gramme, the redevelopment of West Cum-berland Hospital, a Housing MarketRenewal programme and a series of keyprojects to further develop West Cum-bria’s tourism which includes having anarts and cultural officer.

Brian Wilson, who has held six La-bour ministerial posts, is determ-

ined to fulfil his promise thatWest Cumbria will have a “lean,

green, mean fighting ma-chine” with this clear mes-

sage: “2010 is a year of op-timism.”

BIG VISION: An artist’s impressions ofhow a £15m office complex sheme inWhitehaven could look – called AlbionSquare. It will be able to accommodate350 jobs. Pictured below, Brian Wilson

3

INTRODUCTION2

THIS product, the third of a quarterlypublication with associated web contentlinked to www.britainsenergycoast.com, is brought to you by the Cumbria-based CN Media Group. The team behindthe product are based in CN group’scentres in Workington, Whitehaven, Barrowand Carlisle.Z For advertising enquiries contact theBusiness Development Unit on 01228612237/612248.Z For general editorial enquiries contactJonathan Lee on 01229 840134.Z For website enquiries contact Nick Turneron 01228 612321.Z To speak to an energy reporter in Barrow,Whitehaven or Workington contact:Z Alan Irving (Whitehaven News) 01946595147.Z Clare Kinrade (Workington Times andStar) 01900 607627.Z John Simpson (North-West Evening Mail,Barrow) 01229 840144.Z Statistics used in this publication weretaken from recent reports by theDepartment of Energy and Climate Changeincluding reports on Energy statistics andthe UK Low Carbon Transition Plan.

Published by CN Group Ltd, NewspaperHouse, Dalston Road, Carlisle, CA2 5UA.

Year of optimism

NERGY has never beenmore in focus. Globallythere’s the aftermathof the Copenhagen cli-mate change confer-

ence.Nationally there’s this winter’s big

freeze which brought the coldest condi-tions to this country for a generation.

Across the county there’s the after-math of the floods – and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebuild our in-frastructure. All the agencies, whichcame together at the time of the floods,did a superb job to firstly unite thecommunity, and then drive it forward atits time of need.

That same energy and co-operationnow needs to be harnessed to help re-build the infrastructure of Cumbria forthe long-term. That means buildingroads, rail links, and bridges fitting fora world-leading Britain’s EnergyCoast™ in Cumbria.

The opportunities for work and life-style which come from the thrivingenergy sector in this part of the worldare unique. We need to build on thoseopportunities.We are coming up to ageneral election. And for all the reasonsstated above Britain’s Energy Coast™is now firmly on the national and inter-national political agenda.

Fittingly, we have interviews in thisthird edition of our Britain’s EnergyCoast™ special with all the key politicalplayers. Whether by this summer it’sGordon Brown, David Cameron or NickClegg who end up holding the balance ofpower at number 10 you can read theirviews right here. They are fully awarewhat Cumbria has gone through duringthe floods. They are fully aware whatopportunities there are in this area tohelp deliver Britain’s energy vision forthe future.

It is clear the pressing issues of cli-mate change and energy security tran-scend politics – this is not an issue thatwill go away, it is critical we tackle themhead-on for the benefit of future genera-tions.

It is vital that the energy coastremains at the forefront of our energypolicy, and that it builds on its position,not just as a regional, or national brand,but that it grows to become recognisedand respected around the globe.

It’s a big challenge. But with the com-mitment and energy of all involved, andwhich was so evident during the floods,it is one more challenge on which Cum-bria has the power to deliver.

JONATHAN LEEPublishing Director

North West Evening MailBarrow, Cumbria

E

OLITICAL big hitterBrian Wilson is look-ing for some big hitsto leave West Cumbri-ans in no doubt that itwill achieve its as-pirations.

“We willbe judged on delivery, byresults,” says the chair-man of the Britain’s En-ergy Coast West Cum-bria Board, adding:“The sooner the bet-ter.

“Some terriblethings havehappened recently,the area is startingto recover from thedevastation.

“As an organisa-tion we are doingeverything possible tohelp the governmentand other agencies, but atthe same time we are stick-ing by our strategy which isto achieve in the longerterm.

“The reality is that it will taketime to put people and thingsin place and that’s what wehave been doing over thelast six months.

“As we speak wehave just had a meet-ing to consider theplans and strategyfor the next few

Pyears and very soon we will be coming outwith a clear cut list of priorities. There aresome good projects. My own impression inthe short-term I have been involved is thatmaybe some of the things have been talkedabout far too long with nothing concretehappening.”

Labour’s ex-Energy ministerwent on: “Our priority is very

much to deliver and veryquickly with some bighits. People want to seesomething done,something tangible and

that is only right.”Britain’s Energy

Coast West Cum-bria was

formerly knownas West CumbriaVision.

“The name haschanged to “re-flect the shift infocus from visionto action while atthe same timefirmly aligning it-

self with the £2bnEnergy Coast pro-

gramme for

West Cumbria and Furness”.“While it is important to have a vision

when we are seeking to build a new eco-nomy based on low carbon energy it iseven more important to deliver projectswhich will make a real difference to thecommunities we are here to serve.

“This is now the challenge which theteam is engaged in to make sure we graspthe opportunities that clearly exist.”

Brian Wilson and his team are drawingon expertise in energy, infrastructure, bigbusiness and social enterprise to deliverthe energy coast programme across Cope-land and Allerdale aimed at creatingaround 16,000 jobs.

First big project to be completed wasEnergus, the nuclear skills trainingacademy at Lillyhall, opened last June.

The focus is now on Whitehaven’s AlbionSquare commercial development and thePow Beck Valley sports stadium inWhitehaven, the Port of Workingtoninvestment programme, building the casefor nuclear build in Copeland, an extens-ive skills and innovation development pro-gramme, the redevelopment of West Cum-berland Hospital, a Housing MarketRenewal programme and a series of keyprojects to further develop West Cum-bria’s tourism which includes having anarts and cultural officer.

Brian Wilson, who has held six La-bour ministerial posts, is determ-

ined to fulfil his promise thatWest Cumbria will have a “lean,

green, mean fighting ma-chine” with this clear mes-

sage: “2010 is a year of op-timism.”

BIG VISION: An artist’s impressions ofhow a £15m office complex sheme inWhitehaven could look – called AlbionSquare. It will be able to accommodate350 jobs. Pictured below, Brian Wilson

3

4

INTERVIEWSby ANIKA BOURLEY

5

CONSERVATIVE LEADERDAVID CAMERON

HE said: “Sometimes, themost important things inlife we take for granted.For example, flick on aswitch and you expect thelights to go on.

“But Britain cannot be com-placent on this issue. Recentgovernment dococuments re-vealed that within seven years,Britain could have power cuts.

“And not just any power cuts.But regular, peak-time ones –the equivalent of one million

people losing power for 15minutes 20 times a year.“The consequences do not bear

thinking about. That’s why Britainneeds a strategy to keep our lights

on and our homes warm. And that’sexactly what the Conservatives areproposing. First, we will make ourenergy supply more resilient to dis-ruptions. It’s astonishing to think thatin the middle of the coldest winter for30 years, Britain has just eight daysworth of gas storage in the tank.

Running out would be a crisisof monumental pro-

portions – to

our economy and to our safety.“Compare this to France – they

have 120 days worth of storage. Weneed to make sure we have the samesecurity. Unlike the government,we recognise this short-term en-ergy gap and will make sure it isfilled.

“Second, we will increase our elec-tricity generating capacity. Today,clean coal carbon-capture techno-logy has the power to transform ourrelationship with energy. It can giveus the power we need withoutharming our environment.

“Yet we still don’t know where it iseven going to be trialled. Othercountries are already stealing amarch – taking this technology, andthe jobs that come with it, withthem. That’s why one of our firstactions will be to get on with build-ing clean coal plants – equippedwith this new technology from theoutset.

“Third, we will diversify our sup-ply. We have one of the largest coast-lines in Europe and some of thehighest tidal ranges in the world.Yet we get less power from renew-able sources than any almost everyother European country.

“It doesn’t have to be like this.Cumbria’s Energy Coast is a sign-post for the change we need. And togive it the best chance for develop-ment, we will immediately give theNational Grid the incentive to ex-tend its power lines out to sea. Real

diversity should include nuclear.“I know this is an important issue

in Cumbria, so let me make it clear:I support the continued use of nuc-lear power. But one of the reasonswhy its approval gets delayed isbecause of a confused planning pro-cess. So we will publish clear plan-ning guidance and allow nuclearpower to compete on a level-playingfield. Fourth, we will prioritise en-ergy efficiency. After all, we’re theones who turn on the lights – weneed to part of the solution forkeeping them on too.

“This is where our Green Dealcomes in, where every home will beable to get up to £6,500 of homeinsulation improvements.

“Trusted retailers, energy suppli-ers, local authorities and local busi-nesses would all be entitled toprovide energy efficiency improve-ments to people’s homes.

“The cost of the work will then berepaid out of the much greater sav-ings on energy bills. It’s a cleversolution to an old problem and willresult in a triple win – lower emis-sions, more jobs, reduced bills.

“Our plans to guarantee our en-ergy security aren’t timid, theycan’t afford to be. At stake is oursecurity, our prosperity and the pre-servation of our environment. Butit’s because Britain needs thischange – and wants this change –that the Conservatives are ready todeliver it.”

Lower bills, more jobs, and a healthier planet

CALL FORCHANGE:ConservativeParty leaderDavidCameron

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT LEADERNICK CLEGG

HE said: “Not everyone takes cli-mate change seriously. Sometimesthe science behind it – the endlessfacts and figures – can feel remotefrom everyday life. But here inCumbria the effects of a changingclimate have been very real.

“Many towns and villages still bear thescars from the floods. People’s homes havebeen wrecked, businesses have been dealta major blow, and sadly, in some cases,lives have been devastated.

“Unless we act to stop the changes hap-pening in our atmosphere, extreme andsevere weather will only get worse. If wedo nothing our children, and their chil-dren, will be stuck with the mess we’ve leftthem. And, by that point, it will be toolate.

“Like a lot of people, I was hugely disap-pointed when leaders from around theworld left the Copenhagen climate talks atthe end of last year without a plan to stopglobal warming.

“The talks were scuppered by brinkman-ship: different nations made short-sighteddecisions about their own interests, sacri-ficing our collective future.

“Despite those mistakes, we can’t nowgive up, because frankly we can’t afford to.The lesson to learn from Copenhagen isthat tackling climate change is going totake strong international leadership. Ibelieve that’s where Britain comes in.

“The only way Britain can have author-ity abroad is if we lead by example athome. Gordon Brown has failed to do that:the total amount of carbon we produce isactually higher than when Labour tookoffice.

“Labour prioritised dirty coal and newLondon airport runways when it shouldhave been investing in a low-carbon, high-speed railway network and new, cleansources of energy. The Conservativeswould be no better.

“They say they care about the environ-ment, but then choose politicians whopretend climate change doesn’t exist astheir best friends in Europe.

“The Liberal Democrats know it doesn’tneed to be like this. Britain is rich innatural resources that could be used toproduce renewable energy, like lakes andrivers here in the Lake District.

“And I know local MP Tim Farron hasbeen busy campaigning for Cumbrianfarmers to be able to convert agriculturalwaste into electricity through the processknown as anaerobic digestion.

“Cutting down on dirty fuels is good forthe economy too. Green energy is theindustry of the future, and the key togrowth. That’s why Liberal Democratssupport plans for a green business park inSouth Lakeland, where local graduateswould have the opportunity to becomeexperts in new eco-technologies.

“Plus if we use energy more efficientlywe can cut the fuel bills that millions offamilies struggle to pay, and help themany pensioners who spend the winter ina single room because they can’t afford toheat the whole house.

“We have some of the most poorly insu-lated homes in Europe, so my party has aplan to insulate every single one. Lowerbills, more jobs, and a healthier planet –those are the results of tackling climatechange. And by showing we’re committedto cutting carbon at home, Britain has amuch better chance of getting other coun-tries to listen as we pick up the pieces afterCopenhagen and come up with a bindinginternational plan for the future.”

DISAPPOINTED:Liberal

Democrat leaderNick Clegg was

disappointedthat worldleaders left

Copenhagenwithout a plan to

stop globalwarming

PRESS ASSOCIATION

Brown’s green revolutionCopenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009: the verdict

PM GORDON BROWNPRIME Minister Gordon Brown said:“No one in Cumbria needs convin-cing of the destructive power ofsevere and exceptional weather.

“In recent months the county has enduredthe misery, disruption and devastation offloods, snow and ice – and I know that manypeople are still struggling in the aftermath.

“At such times global warming must seema distant prospect. But it remains true thatclimate change will affect every individual,every family, every community and everybusiness.

“That is why we are building a low carbonfuture for Britain. Not only because it is ourmoral duty to future generations but alsobecause this new approach will underpin oureconomic recovery – providing new growth,new jobs and new industries.

“Indeed, we recently announced thelargest programme of investment in offshorewindpower in the world, which will provide aboost to the Cumbrian economy.

“This government is also the first in ageneration to commit to building new nucle-ar power stations – including in Cumbria.

“We are also leading the world in theconstruction of four new clean coal powerstations using ‘carbon capture and storage’technology. Through these new low carbontechnologies we are ensuring not only thatBritain cuts its emissions but will reduce itsdependence on imported energy.

“Having our own sustainable and reliablesources of power will be vital in the years tocome as supplies of North Sea oil and gasrun down. And to cut emissions in transportand reduce dependence on oil we are invest-ing in high-speed rail, electrification of exist-ing lines and in the development of electriccars.

“But this is not just about Britain’s infra-structure. It’s also about every family home.Cutting energy waste cuts fuel bills, so weare helping six million homes install insula-tion over the three years to 2011 – and we will

fit every home with a smart meter by the end ofthe decade. By taking up government supportfor simple energy efficiency measures, a house-hold can typically save around £300 a year.

“And our new boiler scrappage scheme willmean 125,000 homes can get £400 off a newefficient boiler to replace an old inefficient one.All this is creating jobs for the British economy.There are already nearly 900,000 people em-ployed in the green sector, and we estimate thatour low carbon policies will help create another400,000 new jobs by 2015.

“Jobs in factories producing energy-savingproducts and in construction companies erect-ing offshore wind turbines; engineers working inthe nuclear industry and mechanics maintain-ing hybrid engines; apprentices installinghousehold insulation and plumbers fitting newboilers: this is the workforce of the future.

“Yet climate change remains one of thegravest threats to the planet and keeping it incheck an enormous challenge for the interna-tional community. So Britain must also lead onthe international stage.

“We have shown the way by already reducingour carbon emissions by nearly a quarter since1990. In 2008 the Climate Change Act made usthe first country in the world to put into law ourtarget to cut greenhouse gases by a third by2020, and at least 80 percent by 2050.

“Now we must push to secure the bindingglobal climate change treaty that most of theworld wants. This was not achieved at theclimate talks in Copenhagen in December, butwe did nevertheless take a major stepforward.

“Every major country in the world, includingthe US and China, has now committed tocutting its greenhouse gas emissions.

“We have embarked on a green revolutionwhich will create prosperity and secur-ity for us all.

“This is the future weare building forCumbria, for Bri-tain, and for theworld.”

STEPFORWARD:

Prime MinisterGordon Brown

We will prioritise energy efficiency

4

INTERVIEWSby ANIKA BOURLEY

5

CONSERVATIVE LEADERDAVID CAMERON

HE said: “Sometimes, themost important things inlife we take for granted.For example, flick on aswitch and you expect thelights to go on.

“But Britain cannot be com-placent on this issue. Recentgovernment dococuments re-vealed that within seven years,Britain could have power cuts.

“And not just any power cuts.But regular, peak-time ones –the equivalent of one million

people losing power for 15minutes 20 times a year.“The consequences do not bear

thinking about. That’s why Britainneeds a strategy to keep our lights

on and our homes warm. And that’sexactly what the Conservatives areproposing. First, we will make ourenergy supply more resilient to dis-ruptions. It’s astonishing to think thatin the middle of the coldest winter for30 years, Britain has just eight daysworth of gas storage in the tank.

Running out would be a crisisof monumental pro-

portions – to

our economy and to our safety.“Compare this to France – they

have 120 days worth of storage. Weneed to make sure we have the samesecurity. Unlike the government,we recognise this short-term en-ergy gap and will make sure it isfilled.

“Second, we will increase our elec-tricity generating capacity. Today,clean coal carbon-capture techno-logy has the power to transform ourrelationship with energy. It can giveus the power we need withoutharming our environment.

“Yet we still don’t know where it iseven going to be trialled. Othercountries are already stealing amarch – taking this technology, andthe jobs that come with it, withthem. That’s why one of our firstactions will be to get on with build-ing clean coal plants – equippedwith this new technology from theoutset.

“Third, we will diversify our sup-ply. We have one of the largest coast-lines in Europe and some of thehighest tidal ranges in the world.Yet we get less power from renew-able sources than any almost everyother European country.

“It doesn’t have to be like this.Cumbria’s Energy Coast is a sign-post for the change we need. And togive it the best chance for develop-ment, we will immediately give theNational Grid the incentive to ex-tend its power lines out to sea. Real

diversity should include nuclear.“I know this is an important issue

in Cumbria, so let me make it clear:I support the continued use of nuc-lear power. But one of the reasonswhy its approval gets delayed isbecause of a confused planning pro-cess. So we will publish clear plan-ning guidance and allow nuclearpower to compete on a level-playingfield. Fourth, we will prioritise en-ergy efficiency. After all, we’re theones who turn on the lights – weneed to part of the solution forkeeping them on too.

“This is where our Green Dealcomes in, where every home will beable to get up to £6,500 of homeinsulation improvements.

“Trusted retailers, energy suppli-ers, local authorities and local busi-nesses would all be entitled toprovide energy efficiency improve-ments to people’s homes.

“The cost of the work will then berepaid out of the much greater sav-ings on energy bills. It’s a cleversolution to an old problem and willresult in a triple win – lower emis-sions, more jobs, reduced bills.

“Our plans to guarantee our en-ergy security aren’t timid, theycan’t afford to be. At stake is oursecurity, our prosperity and the pre-servation of our environment. Butit’s because Britain needs thischange – and wants this change –that the Conservatives are ready todeliver it.”

Lower bills, more jobs, and a healthier planet

CALL FORCHANGE:ConservativeParty leaderDavidCameron

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT LEADERNICK CLEGG

HE said: “Not everyone takes cli-mate change seriously. Sometimesthe science behind it – the endlessfacts and figures – can feel remotefrom everyday life. But here inCumbria the effects of a changingclimate have been very real.

“Many towns and villages still bear thescars from the floods. People’s homes havebeen wrecked, businesses have been dealta major blow, and sadly, in some cases,lives have been devastated.

“Unless we act to stop the changes hap-pening in our atmosphere, extreme andsevere weather will only get worse. If wedo nothing our children, and their chil-dren, will be stuck with the mess we’ve leftthem. And, by that point, it will be toolate.

“Like a lot of people, I was hugely disap-pointed when leaders from around theworld left the Copenhagen climate talks atthe end of last year without a plan to stopglobal warming.

“The talks were scuppered by brinkman-ship: different nations made short-sighteddecisions about their own interests, sacri-ficing our collective future.

“Despite those mistakes, we can’t nowgive up, because frankly we can’t afford to.The lesson to learn from Copenhagen isthat tackling climate change is going totake strong international leadership. Ibelieve that’s where Britain comes in.

“The only way Britain can have author-ity abroad is if we lead by example athome. Gordon Brown has failed to do that:the total amount of carbon we produce isactually higher than when Labour tookoffice.

“Labour prioritised dirty coal and newLondon airport runways when it shouldhave been investing in a low-carbon, high-speed railway network and new, cleansources of energy. The Conservativeswould be no better.

“They say they care about the environ-ment, but then choose politicians whopretend climate change doesn’t exist astheir best friends in Europe.

“The Liberal Democrats know it doesn’tneed to be like this. Britain is rich innatural resources that could be used toproduce renewable energy, like lakes andrivers here in the Lake District.

“And I know local MP Tim Farron hasbeen busy campaigning for Cumbrianfarmers to be able to convert agriculturalwaste into electricity through the processknown as anaerobic digestion.

“Cutting down on dirty fuels is good forthe economy too. Green energy is theindustry of the future, and the key togrowth. That’s why Liberal Democratssupport plans for a green business park inSouth Lakeland, where local graduateswould have the opportunity to becomeexperts in new eco-technologies.

“Plus if we use energy more efficientlywe can cut the fuel bills that millions offamilies struggle to pay, and help themany pensioners who spend the winter ina single room because they can’t afford toheat the whole house.

“We have some of the most poorly insu-lated homes in Europe, so my party has aplan to insulate every single one. Lowerbills, more jobs, and a healthier planet –those are the results of tackling climatechange. And by showing we’re committedto cutting carbon at home, Britain has amuch better chance of getting other coun-tries to listen as we pick up the pieces afterCopenhagen and come up with a bindinginternational plan for the future.”

DISAPPOINTED:Liberal

Democrat leaderNick Clegg was

disappointedthat worldleaders left

Copenhagenwithout a plan to

stop globalwarming

PRESS ASSOCIATION

Brown’s green revolutionCopenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009: the verdict

PM GORDON BROWNPRIME Minister Gordon Brown said:“No one in Cumbria needs convin-cing of the destructive power ofsevere and exceptional weather.

“In recent months the county has enduredthe misery, disruption and devastation offloods, snow and ice – and I know that manypeople are still struggling in the aftermath.

“At such times global warming must seema distant prospect. But it remains true thatclimate change will affect every individual,every family, every community and everybusiness.

“That is why we are building a low carbonfuture for Britain. Not only because it is ourmoral duty to future generations but alsobecause this new approach will underpin oureconomic recovery – providing new growth,new jobs and new industries.

“Indeed, we recently announced thelargest programme of investment in offshorewindpower in the world, which will provide aboost to the Cumbrian economy.

“This government is also the first in ageneration to commit to building new nucle-ar power stations – including in Cumbria.

“We are also leading the world in theconstruction of four new clean coal powerstations using ‘carbon capture and storage’technology. Through these new low carbontechnologies we are ensuring not only thatBritain cuts its emissions but will reduce itsdependence on imported energy.

“Having our own sustainable and reliablesources of power will be vital in the years tocome as supplies of North Sea oil and gasrun down. And to cut emissions in transportand reduce dependence on oil we are invest-ing in high-speed rail, electrification of exist-ing lines and in the development of electriccars.

“But this is not just about Britain’s infra-structure. It’s also about every family home.Cutting energy waste cuts fuel bills, so weare helping six million homes install insula-tion over the three years to 2011 – and we will

fit every home with a smart meter by the end ofthe decade. By taking up government supportfor simple energy efficiency measures, a house-hold can typically save around £300 a year.

“And our new boiler scrappage scheme willmean 125,000 homes can get £400 off a newefficient boiler to replace an old inefficient one.All this is creating jobs for the British economy.There are already nearly 900,000 people em-ployed in the green sector, and we estimate thatour low carbon policies will help create another400,000 new jobs by 2015.

“Jobs in factories producing energy-savingproducts and in construction companies erect-ing offshore wind turbines; engineers working inthe nuclear industry and mechanics maintain-ing hybrid engines; apprentices installinghousehold insulation and plumbers fitting newboilers: this is the workforce of the future.

“Yet climate change remains one of thegravest threats to the planet and keeping it incheck an enormous challenge for the interna-tional community. So Britain must also lead onthe international stage.

“We have shown the way by already reducingour carbon emissions by nearly a quarter since1990. In 2008 the Climate Change Act made usthe first country in the world to put into law ourtarget to cut greenhouse gases by a third by2020, and at least 80 percent by 2050.

“Now we must push to secure the bindingglobal climate change treaty that most of theworld wants. This was not achieved at theclimate talks in Copenhagen in December, butwe did nevertheless take a major stepforward.

“Every major country in the world, includingthe US and China, has now committed tocutting its greenhouse gas emissions.

“We have embarked on a green revolutionwhich will create prosperity and secur-ity for us all.

“This is the future weare building forCumbria, for Bri-tain, and for theworld.”

STEPFORWARD:

Prime MinisterGordon Brown

We will prioritise energy efficiency

In 1993 China overtook Russia asthe world’s second largest energyconsumer and if Chinese primaryenergy consumption continues to

grow at its current rate it willovertake the US in 2011

THE UK currently has a total ofalmost 83 GW of electricity

generating capacity, which iscurrently more than sufficient to

meet the peak demand level.However, much of this capacity isexpected to be decommissioned

over the next decade or so

WATT’S THE DEAL

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

TOURISM

76

£143bn of investmentis required in thepower generation

sector between 2010and 2030 in order to

adequately meetfuture demand

Prior to theElectricity Act 1926,UK electricity was

supplied toconsumers through a

variety of smallprivately ownedsupply networks

In the UK primary energyconsumption has remained

relatively steady over the pastdecade, although between

2006 and 2008 there has beena decline of 3.8% – largely the

result of the financial crisisand warmer winters

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

HILE lastNovember’sfloods had dev-astating con-sequences formany house-holders, thedirector of theWest Cumbria

Tourism Partnership Katie Read,sees the floods as an opportunityfor businesses in the region.

She said: “The flooding really is anopportunity and many of those I havespoken to in the local tourism businesswant to use it to better their standards –not to return to the same standards.

“It is a little bit like the foot and mouthcrisis in Cumbria – it has enabled peopleto sit back and take stock.”

Few people are better positioned thanKatie to offer advice to local businesses inthe wake of the floods, with over 21 yearsexperience of working in tourism – nine ofthose in Cumbria – and a backgroundhelping Cumbrian farmers overcome thedamage the foot and mouth crisis causedin her role with the North West FarmTourism initiative.

“On the Wednesday before the floods Ihad a fantastic meeting with the privatesector looking at our vision for destina-tion marketing in West Cumbria,” saysKatie.

According to Katie that vision has notbeen affected by the unprecedented flood-ing, which tore through West Cumbria in

W

Global annual energyconsumption hasmore than tripledover the past 50

years, driven mainlyby demand growth in

the developingeconomies

NIGEL CATTERSON, 60,MD nb21c (social

enterprise) Ltd, SolwayEnergy Gateway and

utropia Ltd. Boardmember of BritainsEnergy Coast West

Cumbria

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

Place of work: Home.I love working on Britain's Energy

Coast™ because...Of the wealth of opportunities that it

presents for the whole community. We are intimes of great change and possibilities. Ibelieve that the Energy Coast can provide amodel of how we can best demonstrate howsociety as a whole can survive the century.

Describe your commute to work...The passageway between the kitchen and

office. I am surrounded by beautiful countryno matter which direction of travel when Ileave home.

What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...I think there are many and it is hard to pick

just one, but West Cumbria has far more tooffer than mostpeople realise. Arich and proud in-dustrial herit-age, warm,friendly, ‘real’people, andstunning vis-tas.

When I am not working my perfect day inCumbria is...

Although I don’t do this half as often as Ishould, I love to get on to the fell tops,particularly the Northern and Western Fellswith which I am more familiar. It putseverything into perspective and reminds oneof one’s place in the scheme of things

My favourite place in the whole of Cum-bria is...

Cumbria has such a wealth of different,interesting, and inspiring environments.

My favourite outdoor pursuit is...I teach Tai Chi and other energy work

disciplines and although most often practicedindoors, when weather permits, Cumbria hasthe perfect environment to reconnect withnature.

My favourite three-course Cumbrianmeal is...

I don’t eat meat so many traditional Cumbri-an dishes are unfamiliar to me. I love cookingand find it very therapeutic. I really enjoysticky toffee pud. Cumbrian goats cheese isgreat to round a meal of with.

My favourite drink is...I am very fond of a good highland malt

whiskey. I also love a hot chocolate at Masonswhen I’m in Keswick.

My favourite place to eat out is...Zefferellis and their recently opened sister

business Fellinis, which has some of the bestvegetarian food I have tasted. Ambience isevery bit as important as food and this busi-ness knows how to do it well.

If someone from abroad had never beento Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be.....

The feeling of being so connected to natureand the natural world, the pace of life, thestrong sense of community and a clear under-standing of what is most important to us ashuman beings.

Goats Cheese Tart

Calor comes to rescue of clothes bankTHE Cockermouth clothes bank distribu-tion outlet has been given a warmingboost thanks to Carlisle Calor Centre.

The outlet, set up to provide victims ofthe recent floods with dry clothing, isbeing run from a two-storey building onStation Road without central heating.

Organisers thought it would take days toget a heat source into the building, whichhave been kindly donated by the local

public. However, within just two hours ofspeaking with Dennis Marks, manager atthe Carlisle Calor centre, two portableheaters fuelled by Calor gas cylinders andaccompanying fire guards were in place.

The Flood Recovery Team, supported byvolunteers, are now working in thewarmth to ensure flood-stricken Cumbri-an’s have access to essential clothing.

Dennis Marks, Carlisle Calor centre

manager, says: “As soon as I got the call Idid everything I could to ensure staff atthe clothes bank could get warm andbegin the good work.”

For information contact Carlisle CalorCentre on 01228 522144 or visit the store atMill Brook Road, Kingstown IndustrialEstate, Carlisle, or visit the website atwww.caloroffers.co.uk or call 0800783 4712.

November destroying much of the region’sinfrastructure and, just as importantly interms of tourism, damaging perceptions ofthe county.

Katie says: “The message that ‘Cumbriais open for business’ is coming across loudand clear and that is down to the passion ofthe people in the county and that’s whytourism really works in West Cumbria. Isee our role as really helping to foster thatpride in the area.”

In response to the flooding, CumbriaTourism, with support from theNorthwest Regional DevelopmentAgency launched an immediateprogramme of marketing and PRactivity to counteract the negat-ive perceptions that the whole ofCumbria had been affected.

Katie herself spent hoursspent many hours visiting andadvising businesses in theCockermouth and Workingtonareas, as part of one of theseinititatives – the Industry Li-aison Executives.

She says: “The ILEs meantthere was someone on the

ground who could help businesses workthrough their worries. Now that the insur-ance assessors have been in the focus isvery much on what things are going to belike when they reopen.

“We are forging ahead and also setting upa brand new public-private sector led Part-nership Board, to take West Cumbria intothe future.”

The board’s aims are currently beinghelped by a new television show: “Wecurrently have a fantastic programme onITV 1, The Lakes, which showcases thepeople and wonderful characters you findin the county.

“This is tremendously important as it isthe people that always make any tourismexperience.”

Now, she says the focus is on raisingawareness of all that West Cumbria and itscoast has to offer: “We are home to Bri-tain’s favourite view but to some extentwe’ve been hiding our light under a bushelbut through our website, a new visitors’guide and the top attractions leaflet we arereally aiming to raise the bar.”

Katie finishes by saying: “Festivals suchas the Whitehaven Festival of the Sea

and the Solway music festiv-al will be instrumental in2010 in bringing people backto the area. As will improvingwhat’s on offer in terms ofvisitor accommodation, im-proving the quality of the visit-or experience and putting WestCumbria on the food and drinkmap – a market which is com-pletely untapped at the moment.Our strength in West Cumbria isthat we adapt – we don’tstand still.”

Tourismfightingback

A WEST Cumbria’s tourismindustry will come back

stronger than ever followinglast November’s devastating

floods, according to thedirector of the West

Cumbria TourismPartnership Katie Read.CLAIRE CRISP reports

FTER the deluge oflast November inCumbria comes theinfrastructure re-newal.

But what sort of re-newal will it be and willthings be better thanthey were for West

Cumbria and for the Energy Coast?Councillor Tony Markley of Silloth is

head of Highways and Economy for Cum-bria County Council.

He knows about transport as he used torun a trucking business and now owns acoach firm.

The November floods felled one majorWorkington bridge over the RiverDerwent , the Northside, and damaged theCalva bridge beyond repair, sunderingwhat had been easy communications fortownspeople and passing transport.

It has meant drivers taking 30 mile de-tours and spending an extra hour and ahalf to get to work or other appointments.Others have made use of the temporaryBarker Crossing erected in double quick

time by the Army and named after PC BillBarker who died on the Northside Bridgewhen it fell, and with bus services laid oneach side of it. Others are still usingspecial shuttle trains from the temporaryWorkington North rail station across theriver into town.

The race is on to get things back tonormal starting with a £5m temporaryroad bridge over the Derwent near to theCalva bridge site. Optimists believe thedual roadway able to take vehicles up to 44tonnes in weight, could be up and runningby as soon as May although it might belater in the year. Several firms tenderedfor the job.

As to the wider scheme to replace the lostbridges Cllr Markley said: “We are evalu-ating the scheme. We have looked at itonce and we are going back to look at itagain.”

While people might hope that the chance

will be taken to replace what went beforewith something better, the stark financialtruth is that the Government’s BellwinScheme local government financescheme for making good such dis-asters will only normally payfor like for like.

Councillor Markley said: “Itis all down to the cost andwhat the Government willgive us.

“I don’t think the Gov-ernment will fund a bignew road scheme.”

“We are looking at thebest thing we can do outof the resources we willhave. I would like tothink we could get betterinfrastructure in place if itis at all possible.”

He praises the officers of thecounty council for their rap-id and dedicated responseto the emergency, butconcedes it could betwo years least be-

fore the new bridges rise and everything isback to normal. It’s been absolutely dev-astating to the public and to the eco-

nomy.”

Cllr Markley believes furtherbig road improvements along

the Energy Coast, includingdown to Barrow, will onlybe on the cards if one ormore new nuclear powerstations close to Sel-lafield are built.

In the short term hesays the next majorboost will be the CarlisleNorthern DevelopmentRoute which will facil-itate a faster linkbetween the M6 andthe Energy Coast

towns. A passenger ser-vice at Carlisle Airport ifthose hopes take off,

would be icing on theEnergy

Coast cake.

A TRANSPORTby JOHN SIMPSON

TTiimmee ffoorr rreenneewwaallVISIT: Conservative Party leader David Cameron is shown the newly-opened temporary bridge in Workington, Cumbria called Barker crossing, named after PC Bill Barker, pictured,inset, who was killed in the recent floods ON A MISSION: Katie Read, the director of West Cumbria Tourism Partnership

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

TONY MARKLEY

SAFE: Rescuers carry a woman to dryland in Cockermouth, Cumbria as floodshit in November 2009

Facts provided by Douglas-Westwood Ltdfrom the UK Power Generation Report 2010-2030

Facts provided by Douglas-Westwood Ltdfrom the UK Power Generation Report 2010-2030

In 1993 China overtook Russia asthe world’s second largest energyconsumer and if Chinese primaryenergy consumption continues to

grow at its current rate it willovertake the US in 2011

THE UK currently has a total ofalmost 83 GW of electricity

generating capacity, which iscurrently more than sufficient to

meet the peak demand level.However, much of this capacity isexpected to be decommissioned

over the next decade or so

WATT’S THE DEAL

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

TOURISM

76

£143bn of investmentis required in thepower generation

sector between 2010and 2030 in order to

adequately meetfuture demand

Prior to theElectricity Act 1926,UK electricity was

supplied toconsumers through a

variety of smallprivately ownedsupply networks

In the UK primary energyconsumption has remained

relatively steady over the pastdecade, although between

2006 and 2008 there has beena decline of 3.8% – largely the

result of the financial crisisand warmer winters

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

HILE lastNovember’sfloods had dev-astating con-sequences formany house-holders, thedirector of theWest Cumbria

Tourism Partnership Katie Read,sees the floods as an opportunityfor businesses in the region.

She said: “The flooding really is anopportunity and many of those I havespoken to in the local tourism businesswant to use it to better their standards –not to return to the same standards.

“It is a little bit like the foot and mouthcrisis in Cumbria – it has enabled peopleto sit back and take stock.”

Few people are better positioned thanKatie to offer advice to local businesses inthe wake of the floods, with over 21 yearsexperience of working in tourism – nine ofthose in Cumbria – and a backgroundhelping Cumbrian farmers overcome thedamage the foot and mouth crisis causedin her role with the North West FarmTourism initiative.

“On the Wednesday before the floods Ihad a fantastic meeting with the privatesector looking at our vision for destina-tion marketing in West Cumbria,” saysKatie.

According to Katie that vision has notbeen affected by the unprecedented flood-ing, which tore through West Cumbria in

W

Global annual energyconsumption hasmore than tripledover the past 50

years, driven mainlyby demand growth in

the developingeconomies

NIGEL CATTERSON, 60,MD nb21c (social

enterprise) Ltd, SolwayEnergy Gateway and

utropia Ltd. Boardmember of BritainsEnergy Coast West

Cumbria

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

Place of work: Home.I love working on Britain's Energy

Coast™ because...Of the wealth of opportunities that it

presents for the whole community. We are intimes of great change and possibilities. Ibelieve that the Energy Coast can provide amodel of how we can best demonstrate howsociety as a whole can survive the century.

Describe your commute to work...The passageway between the kitchen and

office. I am surrounded by beautiful countryno matter which direction of travel when Ileave home.

What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...I think there are many and it is hard to pick

just one, but West Cumbria has far more tooffer than mostpeople realise. Arich and proud in-dustrial herit-age, warm,friendly, ‘real’people, andstunning vis-tas.

When I am not working my perfect day inCumbria is...

Although I don’t do this half as often as Ishould, I love to get on to the fell tops,particularly the Northern and Western Fellswith which I am more familiar. It putseverything into perspective and reminds oneof one’s place in the scheme of things

My favourite place in the whole of Cum-bria is...

Cumbria has such a wealth of different,interesting, and inspiring environments.

My favourite outdoor pursuit is...I teach Tai Chi and other energy work

disciplines and although most often practicedindoors, when weather permits, Cumbria hasthe perfect environment to reconnect withnature.

My favourite three-course Cumbrianmeal is...

I don’t eat meat so many traditional Cumbri-an dishes are unfamiliar to me. I love cookingand find it very therapeutic. I really enjoysticky toffee pud. Cumbrian goats cheese isgreat to round a meal of with.

My favourite drink is...I am very fond of a good highland malt

whiskey. I also love a hot chocolate at Masonswhen I’m in Keswick.

My favourite place to eat out is...Zefferellis and their recently opened sister

business Fellinis, which has some of the bestvegetarian food I have tasted. Ambience isevery bit as important as food and this busi-ness knows how to do it well.

If someone from abroad had never beento Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be.....

The feeling of being so connected to natureand the natural world, the pace of life, thestrong sense of community and a clear under-standing of what is most important to us ashuman beings.

Goats Cheese Tart

Calor comes to rescue of clothes bankTHE Cockermouth clothes bank distribu-tion outlet has been given a warmingboost thanks to Carlisle Calor Centre.

The outlet, set up to provide victims ofthe recent floods with dry clothing, isbeing run from a two-storey building onStation Road without central heating.

Organisers thought it would take days toget a heat source into the building, whichhave been kindly donated by the local

public. However, within just two hours ofspeaking with Dennis Marks, manager atthe Carlisle Calor centre, two portableheaters fuelled by Calor gas cylinders andaccompanying fire guards were in place.

The Flood Recovery Team, supported byvolunteers, are now working in thewarmth to ensure flood-stricken Cumbri-an’s have access to essential clothing.

Dennis Marks, Carlisle Calor centre

manager, says: “As soon as I got the call Idid everything I could to ensure staff atthe clothes bank could get warm andbegin the good work.”

For information contact Carlisle CalorCentre on 01228 522144 or visit the store atMill Brook Road, Kingstown IndustrialEstate, Carlisle, or visit the website atwww.caloroffers.co.uk or call 0800783 4712.

November destroying much of the region’sinfrastructure and, just as importantly interms of tourism, damaging perceptions ofthe county.

Katie says: “The message that ‘Cumbriais open for business’ is coming across loudand clear and that is down to the passion ofthe people in the county and that’s whytourism really works in West Cumbria. Isee our role as really helping to foster thatpride in the area.”

In response to the flooding, CumbriaTourism, with support from theNorthwest Regional DevelopmentAgency launched an immediateprogramme of marketing and PRactivity to counteract the negat-ive perceptions that the whole ofCumbria had been affected.

Katie herself spent hoursspent many hours visiting andadvising businesses in theCockermouth and Workingtonareas, as part of one of theseinititatives – the Industry Li-aison Executives.

She says: “The ILEs meantthere was someone on the

ground who could help businesses workthrough their worries. Now that the insur-ance assessors have been in the focus isvery much on what things are going to belike when they reopen.

“We are forging ahead and also setting upa brand new public-private sector led Part-nership Board, to take West Cumbria intothe future.”

The board’s aims are currently beinghelped by a new television show: “Wecurrently have a fantastic programme onITV 1, The Lakes, which showcases thepeople and wonderful characters you findin the county.

“This is tremendously important as it isthe people that always make any tourismexperience.”

Now, she says the focus is on raisingawareness of all that West Cumbria and itscoast has to offer: “We are home to Bri-tain’s favourite view but to some extentwe’ve been hiding our light under a bushelbut through our website, a new visitors’guide and the top attractions leaflet we arereally aiming to raise the bar.”

Katie finishes by saying: “Festivals suchas the Whitehaven Festival of the Sea

and the Solway music festiv-al will be instrumental in2010 in bringing people backto the area. As will improvingwhat’s on offer in terms ofvisitor accommodation, im-proving the quality of the visit-or experience and putting WestCumbria on the food and drinkmap – a market which is com-pletely untapped at the moment.Our strength in West Cumbria isthat we adapt – we don’tstand still.”

Tourismfightingback

A WEST Cumbria’s tourismindustry will come back

stronger than ever followinglast November’s devastating

floods, according to thedirector of the West

Cumbria TourismPartnership Katie Read.CLAIRE CRISP reports

FTER the deluge oflast November inCumbria comes theinfrastructure re-newal.

But what sort of re-newal will it be and willthings be better thanthey were for West

Cumbria and for the Energy Coast?Councillor Tony Markley of Silloth is

head of Highways and Economy for Cum-bria County Council.

He knows about transport as he used torun a trucking business and now owns acoach firm.

The November floods felled one majorWorkington bridge over the RiverDerwent , the Northside, and damaged theCalva bridge beyond repair, sunderingwhat had been easy communications fortownspeople and passing transport.

It has meant drivers taking 30 mile de-tours and spending an extra hour and ahalf to get to work or other appointments.Others have made use of the temporaryBarker Crossing erected in double quick

time by the Army and named after PC BillBarker who died on the Northside Bridgewhen it fell, and with bus services laid oneach side of it. Others are still usingspecial shuttle trains from the temporaryWorkington North rail station across theriver into town.

The race is on to get things back tonormal starting with a £5m temporaryroad bridge over the Derwent near to theCalva bridge site. Optimists believe thedual roadway able to take vehicles up to 44tonnes in weight, could be up and runningby as soon as May although it might belater in the year. Several firms tenderedfor the job.

As to the wider scheme to replace the lostbridges Cllr Markley said: “We are evalu-ating the scheme. We have looked at itonce and we are going back to look at itagain.”

While people might hope that the chance

will be taken to replace what went beforewith something better, the stark financialtruth is that the Government’s BellwinScheme local government financescheme for making good such dis-asters will only normally payfor like for like.

Councillor Markley said: “Itis all down to the cost andwhat the Government willgive us.

“I don’t think the Gov-ernment will fund a bignew road scheme.”

“We are looking at thebest thing we can do outof the resources we willhave. I would like tothink we could get betterinfrastructure in place if itis at all possible.”

He praises the officers of thecounty council for their rap-id and dedicated responseto the emergency, butconcedes it could betwo years least be-

fore the new bridges rise and everything isback to normal. It’s been absolutely dev-astating to the public and to the eco-

nomy.”

Cllr Markley believes furtherbig road improvements along

the Energy Coast, includingdown to Barrow, will onlybe on the cards if one ormore new nuclear powerstations close to Sel-lafield are built.

In the short term hesays the next majorboost will be the CarlisleNorthern DevelopmentRoute which will facil-itate a faster linkbetween the M6 andthe Energy Coast

towns. A passenger ser-vice at Carlisle Airport ifthose hopes take off,

would be icing on theEnergy

Coast cake.

A TRANSPORTby JOHN SIMPSON

TTiimmee ffoorr rreenneewwaallVISIT: Conservative Party leader David Cameron is shown the newly-opened temporary bridge in Workington, Cumbria called Barker crossing, named after PC Bill Barker, pictured,inset, who was killed in the recent floods ON A MISSION: Katie Read, the director of West Cumbria Tourism Partnership

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

TONY MARKLEY

SAFE: Rescuers carry a woman to dryland in Cockermouth, Cumbria as floodshit in November 2009

Facts provided by Douglas-Westwood Ltdfrom the UK Power Generation Report 2010-2030

Facts provided by Douglas-Westwood Ltdfrom the UK Power Generation Report 2010-2030

On a mission to bring in9

THE timely development of carboncapture and storage technology willbe an important part of helping the

UK to develop a diverse powergenerating mix and reducingdependence on gas imports

SINCE China began itsrecent phase of

economic developmentin 1991, its primary

energy consumptionhas grown at a ratethat has eclipsed all

other users

MORE than 20per cent of UK

power generationcapacity was

installed before1970 and almost46 per cent prior

to 1980

WATT’S THE DEALLandfill and sewage schemes couldgenerate 10 megawatts of power in

Cumbria this year. By 2020 suchsystems could have created almost

430 jobs and be generating 25Megawatts of electricity.

(Cumbria Vision)

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

8

THE whole Britain’sEnergy Coast™ pro-gramme could leadto £100bn of invest-ment into WestCumbria over the

next 20 years,” said StuartCowperthwaite, programme dir-ector for Britain’s Energy CoastWest Cumbria.

He hailed the project as allowing WestCumbria to harbour some “amazingopportunities” that will push it to theforefront of energy on a national andinternational scale.

But the born-and-bred Cumbrian, whohas been given the mammoth task ofcoordinating the development of projectsacross Copeland and Allerdale, said thechanges and improvements that will res-ult from the project will still be happeningin 30 years time – affecting generations tocome.

He said: “What we are looking for issomething with a lot of depth to it. It’s notabout putting up nice, new buildings. It’smuch deeper than that. We have somespecial capabilities here and there is somuch opportunity – West Cumbria is ahidden gem.”

The father-of-two has an affiliation to thecounty, a county which is so close to hisheart. Born only a few miles west ofPenrith at Hutton, Stuart left Cumbriaaged 18. He was the first in his family to goto university at Imperial College, London,studying civil engineering.

After working in London – including 20years at major engineering consultancyArup – he moved to Cambridge and laterSheffield. His expertise then took him toJapan.

“I was working on a major project inJapan to build a new airport,” he said.

“I did a lot of the engineering work atKansai International Airport, which wasbuilt on a manmade island, and one of thebiggest buildings in the world. It was avery interesting experience.

“The airport had to take into account theworld’s curvature it was so big. It takes along time to get to know the people inJapan, but the food is brilliant and theculture is wacky. I became a great fan ofsumo wrestling!”

After returning from Japan, Stuart gotmarried to Ann-Marie. They now have ayoung family with two children – Daniel,11, and 10-year-old Jodie.

But six years ago the family moved toCumbria and settled in Keswick.

Stuart said: “We had to make a toughdecision of where we wanted to raise ourchildren and I won the argument.

“Thankfully my wife now loves it hereand the kids love it here. The quality of lifeis second to none.

“Cumbria is just beautiful, the schoolsare really good and the things we do in ourspare time are great. We get to go cycling,canoeing, and I get to do a lot of fell

walking. A lot of people have moved toKeswick for the lifestyle change but notenough have moved into West Cumbria,which is what we will be trying to do withthe Energy Coast programme. We needmore diversity in West Cumbria thanthere has been in the past.

“I took the job with Britain’s EnergyCoast West Cumbria to help people likemy children to have a good future in thearea.”

And Stuart’s move to the role asprogramme director for the West Cum-bria team has been aided by a plethora ofdazzling projects including London’sMillennium Dome, laboratories in York,50-storey buildings in London and awardwinning projects such as OxfordUniversity buildings and the Japaneseairport.

Locally, Stuart has also had design inputinto some of West Cumbria’s flagship

projects. He said: “I have helped designschools and hospitals, including studiesfor a new West Cumberland Hospital.

“I have been working in the area for thepast six years and was a director forconsultancy firm White Young Green inCockermouth and had a lead role in thedesign of the Energus facility at Lillyhall,which has been a really successful pro-ject.

“I also did a lot of work on Derwent Howe– the old Corus site – looking at a master-plan for that site and Pow Beck Valleystadium in Whitehaven.

“Some other projects include the EcoCentre at Cockermouth School, which isan examplar for sustainable development.I had employed a lot of people from WestCumbria and I had helped them developand that was the best part but I felt Ineeded a new challenge.

“I was really interested in the idea of

taking a client’s role and having moreinfluence.”

It was this motivation and determina-tion to strive for better that securedStuart’s role at Britain’s Energy CoastWest Cumbria.

Although only ever previously workingin the private sector, Stuart beat a shortlis-ted selection of 11 candidates – some ofwhom were from abroad.

“I think in some ways people took a bit ofa risk with me,” he said, “but hopefullywhat people saw was someone who caresabout this area and I have a different kindof experience to bring to the table becauseI have been involved with some of thehighest quality buildings in the world.

“I am someone who gets things doneinstead of just talking about them. I willmake sure that everyone keeps focussedon delivering rather than producing lots ofstrategies and masterplans. I need to make

sure that everyone is workingtogether and getting everyone to look tothe future and to see a bigger benefit foreveryone.

“There is a lot of bureaucracy involvedin the role so I need to cut through allthat.”

The next few weeks will see the finalisa-tion of a crucial investment plan whichwill shape the future of West Cumbria.

With support from the team at Britain’sEnergy Coast West Cumbria, Stuart hasbeen working on the plan that will outlineproject work and development for the nextthree years.

“There will be some cracking projects inthere,” Stuart said. “We are puttingtogether a rigorous list of plans that areachievable.

“There are lots of things that are happen-ing now which we have never had before.We must get the most from them.

“There are some amazing opportunitiesnow because we have got a fantasticopportunity for a new nuclear powerstation in West Cumbria, which there is avery strong chance that will happen.

“This organisation has played a very bigpart in getting those sites to the top ofthe agenda as far as the government’sconcerned.

“If we do get it then we need to make sureit happens as quickly as possibly as weprovide jobs on the project for localpeople.

“We are getting a new hospital in WestCumbria and we have a new communityhospital programme including new hos-pitals in Cockermouth and Millom and amedical centre at Cleator Moor.

“There are some great new of-fice developments inthere too. There willbe investments inour ports, whichwill be on a majorscale and we willbe doing our bit toencourage tour-ism to West Cum-bria.

“There is hope-fully going to be anew £80m BuildingSchools for the Fu-ture (BSF)programme.

“We will be doingmuch more in towncentresbecause that is wherewe will have more ofan impact on peopleand we will be doingmore on the skillsside.

“We must makesure that peopleestablish theirbusinesses here,that we trainlocal people andestablish loc-al busi-nesses thatwill bringbenefitsnow andin the

“

future and it cures problems rather thancreates them.”

However, Stuart said there is still workto be done on convincing businesses,investors and the government that WestCumbria is ready for all these things tohappen.

When it comes to West Cumbria’s futureworkforce, Stuart maintains training andskills will feature high on the list in the inthe Energy Coast programme and thearea’s previous brain-drain of skilledyoung people will be undoubtedlyplugged.

Stuart added: “In West Cumbria we havea really talented workforce and we haveyoung people that would like to stay in thearea and we will be committed to givingthem training so that they can go for thehigh paid jobs.

“Right now we are looking at skillsdevelopment and skills programmes andthat’s right through from people atschool, so they know there are jobs in the

area for them.“We have really good

research happening at the Nation-al Nuclear Laboratory and UC-

Lan@Westlakes so we needto build on that to get a

development pro-gramme that willtake them throughtheir whole ca-reer.

“We want WestCumbria to be-come well-known on the in-ternationalstage as the placeto be todevelop skills.”

But with the in-creasing need for

new forms of en-ergy, how will the

programme deliver?“We are looking at

the possibility of using wind energy andmethane gas from farm waste,” Stuartsaid. “Wind turbines are not the answer torenewable energy but they are part of theanswer.

“We are also looking at tidal energybecause the Solway is one of the best areasin the county for using tidal energy butyou have to look at the environmentalimpact.

“You need to find ways that are best forgenerating and saving energy and rightnow these are national priorities and West

Cumbria is becoming a national priority.“We have become very well known –

energy is a really hot topic.”With all this on the horizon, Stuart said

funding will be crucial for securing thesuccess of the projects and high on theagenda is finding more public funds.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Author-ity (NDA), Nuclear Management Partners(NMP) and Sellafield are some of themajor contributors in the Energy Coast’ssocio-economic programmes.

The recognition of government is also acrucial aspect to the future success of theprogramme.

Stuart said: “The government is in aposition now where it has to developnuclear power because of all the lowcarbon and environmental issues we haveso West Cumbria is vitally important forthe government. They are starting to seehow important we are.

“We are getting on the map and we haveeven had people from Japan want to comeand learn about some of the structures wehave put in place.

“They have heard about the wayWest Cumbria is working with thegovernment.

“We are getting interest from France,Spain and America about what we aredoing here. Britain’s Energy Coast iscapturing peoples’ imagination.

“The Energy Coast project is importantto us and it is becoming important to theUK.

“We are making some greatfirst steps – we are by no means on the mapyet but we are well on our way.”

LEADER: Programme Director StuartCowperthwaite speaks on the Bri-tain’s Energy Coast™ programme atthe Energy Business Opportunitiesconference in July last year

WATT’S THE DEAL

PROJECTS: Just a selection of the many high-millennium profile projects that Stuart has been involved in. Top, The Millennium Domein London, bottom left, the Energus facility at Lillyhall and, bottom right, Kansai International Airport in Japan

STUART COWPERTHWAITE, programme directorfor Britain’s Energy Coast West Cumbria

£100bn of investmentBIG INTERVIEW

by CLARE KINRADE

Facts provided by Douglas-Westwood Ltdfrom the UK Power Generation Report 2010-2030

TOP MAN: StuartCowperthwaite

On a mission to bring in9

THE timely development of carboncapture and storage technology willbe an important part of helping the

UK to develop a diverse powergenerating mix and reducingdependence on gas imports

SINCE China began itsrecent phase of

economic developmentin 1991, its primary

energy consumptionhas grown at a ratethat has eclipsed all

other users

MORE than 20per cent of UK

power generationcapacity was

installed before1970 and almost46 per cent prior

to 1980

WATT’S THE DEALLandfill and sewage schemes couldgenerate 10 megawatts of power in

Cumbria this year. By 2020 suchsystems could have created almost

430 jobs and be generating 25Megawatts of electricity.

(Cumbria Vision)

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

8

THE whole Britain’sEnergy Coast™ pro-gramme could leadto £100bn of invest-ment into WestCumbria over the

next 20 years,” said StuartCowperthwaite, programme dir-ector for Britain’s Energy CoastWest Cumbria.

He hailed the project as allowing WestCumbria to harbour some “amazingopportunities” that will push it to theforefront of energy on a national andinternational scale.

But the born-and-bred Cumbrian, whohas been given the mammoth task ofcoordinating the development of projectsacross Copeland and Allerdale, said thechanges and improvements that will res-ult from the project will still be happeningin 30 years time – affecting generations tocome.

He said: “What we are looking for issomething with a lot of depth to it. It’s notabout putting up nice, new buildings. It’smuch deeper than that. We have somespecial capabilities here and there is somuch opportunity – West Cumbria is ahidden gem.”

The father-of-two has an affiliation to thecounty, a county which is so close to hisheart. Born only a few miles west ofPenrith at Hutton, Stuart left Cumbriaaged 18. He was the first in his family to goto university at Imperial College, London,studying civil engineering.

After working in London – including 20years at major engineering consultancyArup – he moved to Cambridge and laterSheffield. His expertise then took him toJapan.

“I was working on a major project inJapan to build a new airport,” he said.

“I did a lot of the engineering work atKansai International Airport, which wasbuilt on a manmade island, and one of thebiggest buildings in the world. It was avery interesting experience.

“The airport had to take into account theworld’s curvature it was so big. It takes along time to get to know the people inJapan, but the food is brilliant and theculture is wacky. I became a great fan ofsumo wrestling!”

After returning from Japan, Stuart gotmarried to Ann-Marie. They now have ayoung family with two children – Daniel,11, and 10-year-old Jodie.

But six years ago the family moved toCumbria and settled in Keswick.

Stuart said: “We had to make a toughdecision of where we wanted to raise ourchildren and I won the argument.

“Thankfully my wife now loves it hereand the kids love it here. The quality of lifeis second to none.

“Cumbria is just beautiful, the schoolsare really good and the things we do in ourspare time are great. We get to go cycling,canoeing, and I get to do a lot of fell

walking. A lot of people have moved toKeswick for the lifestyle change but notenough have moved into West Cumbria,which is what we will be trying to do withthe Energy Coast programme. We needmore diversity in West Cumbria thanthere has been in the past.

“I took the job with Britain’s EnergyCoast West Cumbria to help people likemy children to have a good future in thearea.”

And Stuart’s move to the role asprogramme director for the West Cum-bria team has been aided by a plethora ofdazzling projects including London’sMillennium Dome, laboratories in York,50-storey buildings in London and awardwinning projects such as OxfordUniversity buildings and the Japaneseairport.

Locally, Stuart has also had design inputinto some of West Cumbria’s flagship

projects. He said: “I have helped designschools and hospitals, including studiesfor a new West Cumberland Hospital.

“I have been working in the area for thepast six years and was a director forconsultancy firm White Young Green inCockermouth and had a lead role in thedesign of the Energus facility at Lillyhall,which has been a really successful pro-ject.

“I also did a lot of work on Derwent Howe– the old Corus site – looking at a master-plan for that site and Pow Beck Valleystadium in Whitehaven.

“Some other projects include the EcoCentre at Cockermouth School, which isan examplar for sustainable development.I had employed a lot of people from WestCumbria and I had helped them developand that was the best part but I felt Ineeded a new challenge.

“I was really interested in the idea of

taking a client’s role and having moreinfluence.”

It was this motivation and determina-tion to strive for better that securedStuart’s role at Britain’s Energy CoastWest Cumbria.

Although only ever previously workingin the private sector, Stuart beat a shortlis-ted selection of 11 candidates – some ofwhom were from abroad.

“I think in some ways people took a bit ofa risk with me,” he said, “but hopefullywhat people saw was someone who caresabout this area and I have a different kindof experience to bring to the table becauseI have been involved with some of thehighest quality buildings in the world.

“I am someone who gets things doneinstead of just talking about them. I willmake sure that everyone keeps focussedon delivering rather than producing lots ofstrategies and masterplans. I need to make

sure that everyone is workingtogether and getting everyone to look tothe future and to see a bigger benefit foreveryone.

“There is a lot of bureaucracy involvedin the role so I need to cut through allthat.”

The next few weeks will see the finalisa-tion of a crucial investment plan whichwill shape the future of West Cumbria.

With support from the team at Britain’sEnergy Coast West Cumbria, Stuart hasbeen working on the plan that will outlineproject work and development for the nextthree years.

“There will be some cracking projects inthere,” Stuart said. “We are puttingtogether a rigorous list of plans that areachievable.

“There are lots of things that are happen-ing now which we have never had before.We must get the most from them.

“There are some amazing opportunitiesnow because we have got a fantasticopportunity for a new nuclear powerstation in West Cumbria, which there is avery strong chance that will happen.

“This organisation has played a very bigpart in getting those sites to the top ofthe agenda as far as the government’sconcerned.

“If we do get it then we need to make sureit happens as quickly as possibly as weprovide jobs on the project for localpeople.

“We are getting a new hospital in WestCumbria and we have a new communityhospital programme including new hos-pitals in Cockermouth and Millom and amedical centre at Cleator Moor.

“There are some great new of-fice developments inthere too. There willbe investments inour ports, whichwill be on a majorscale and we willbe doing our bit toencourage tour-ism to West Cum-bria.

“There is hope-fully going to be anew £80m BuildingSchools for the Fu-ture (BSF)programme.

“We will be doingmuch more in towncentresbecause that is wherewe will have more ofan impact on peopleand we will be doingmore on the skillsside.

“We must makesure that peopleestablish theirbusinesses here,that we trainlocal people andestablish loc-al busi-nesses thatwill bringbenefitsnow andin the

“

future and it cures problems rather thancreates them.”

However, Stuart said there is still workto be done on convincing businesses,investors and the government that WestCumbria is ready for all these things tohappen.

When it comes to West Cumbria’s futureworkforce, Stuart maintains training andskills will feature high on the list in the inthe Energy Coast programme and thearea’s previous brain-drain of skilledyoung people will be undoubtedlyplugged.

Stuart added: “In West Cumbria we havea really talented workforce and we haveyoung people that would like to stay in thearea and we will be committed to givingthem training so that they can go for thehigh paid jobs.

“Right now we are looking at skillsdevelopment and skills programmes andthat’s right through from people atschool, so they know there are jobs in the

area for them.“We have really good

research happening at the Nation-al Nuclear Laboratory and UC-

Lan@Westlakes so we needto build on that to get a

development pro-gramme that willtake them throughtheir whole ca-reer.

“We want WestCumbria to be-come well-known on the in-ternationalstage as the placeto be todevelop skills.”

But with the in-creasing need for

new forms of en-ergy, how will the

programme deliver?“We are looking at

the possibility of using wind energy andmethane gas from farm waste,” Stuartsaid. “Wind turbines are not the answer torenewable energy but they are part of theanswer.

“We are also looking at tidal energybecause the Solway is one of the best areasin the county for using tidal energy butyou have to look at the environmentalimpact.

“You need to find ways that are best forgenerating and saving energy and rightnow these are national priorities and West

Cumbria is becoming a national priority.“We have become very well known –

energy is a really hot topic.”With all this on the horizon, Stuart said

funding will be crucial for securing thesuccess of the projects and high on theagenda is finding more public funds.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Author-ity (NDA), Nuclear Management Partners(NMP) and Sellafield are some of themajor contributors in the Energy Coast’ssocio-economic programmes.

The recognition of government is also acrucial aspect to the future success of theprogramme.

Stuart said: “The government is in aposition now where it has to developnuclear power because of all the lowcarbon and environmental issues we haveso West Cumbria is vitally important forthe government. They are starting to seehow important we are.

“We are getting on the map and we haveeven had people from Japan want to comeand learn about some of the structures wehave put in place.

“They have heard about the wayWest Cumbria is working with thegovernment.

“We are getting interest from France,Spain and America about what we aredoing here. Britain’s Energy Coast iscapturing peoples’ imagination.

“The Energy Coast project is importantto us and it is becoming important to theUK.

“We are making some greatfirst steps – we are by no means on the mapyet but we are well on our way.”

LEADER: Programme Director StuartCowperthwaite speaks on the Bri-tain’s Energy Coast™ programme atthe Energy Business Opportunitiesconference in July last year

WATT’S THE DEAL

PROJECTS: Just a selection of the many high-millennium profile projects that Stuart has been involved in. Top, The Millennium Domein London, bottom left, the Energus facility at Lillyhall and, bottom right, Kansai International Airport in Japan

STUART COWPERTHWAITE, programme directorfor Britain’s Energy Coast West Cumbria

£100bn of investmentBIG INTERVIEW

by CLARE KINRADE

Facts provided by Douglas-Westwood Ltdfrom the UK Power Generation Report 2010-2030

TOP MAN: StuartCowperthwaite

LAURA LEWTHWAITE, 24,Project Administrator at

Barrow RegenerationI LOVE working on Britain's EnergyCoast™ because...

It’s a great opportunity to make a differencein the Cumbria area. It’s a fantastic area andhas loads of potential.

Describe your commute to work...A 45-minute drive from Millom, along the

Cumbrian countryside.What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...Cumbria has lots to see

and do, you don’t needto travel miles to seethe great views.

When I am notworking myperfect day inCumbria is...

I love going to thelakes, and seeing theview of Windermere asyou drive towards thelake.

My favourite place in the whole ofCumbria is...

Ambleside, the local fish and chip shop isgreat.

My favourite outdoor pursuit is...Walking up Black Combe. It’s a fantastic

walk and only a few miles from Millom.My favourite three-course Cumbrian

meal is...Potted Morecambe Bay shrimps, local

Cumberland Sausage from Richard Woodall’sat Waberthwaite and Cartmel Sticky ToffeePudding with toffee sauce for dessert. Yum!

My favourite drink is...Dry Martini and lemonade although more

than one always tastes better!!My favourite

place to eatout is...

The Com-modore atHaverigg, theview from therestaurant isbrilliant and it’snot very oftenthat you can sitand look out atthe fantasticsunset over thewater, whileeating yourfavourite meal.

If someonefrom abroadhad never been to Cumbria before the onething I would tell them was the greatestaspect of living and working around herewould be...

The safety of living and working in a smallCumbrian town, but having big open viewsand opportunities also on your doorstep.

10 11

BIG INTERVIEW

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

FAVE: Sausages from Waberthwaite

Morecambe Bayshrimps

PRIME Minister GordonBrown explains how

Cumbria is positioned tolead on energy, and how

energy is a positive driverfor rebuilding and

regeneration after the floods

VISION: Professor JohnFyfe addresses thelaunch of Cumbria Visionat the Sellafield VisitorCentre MIKE MCKENZIE

"I saw a resilience thatdemonstrated the bestside of the British spirit”

– PM GORDON BROWN

New jobs scheme willget people back to work

A NEW county-wide jobs scheme couldsee more than 100 people helped intoemployment.

The Future Jobs Fund, run by CumbriaCounty Council, will help nearly 130people aged 18 to 24 into work followinglong-term unemployment.

The government scheme will run untilMay this year and will support localemployers to create new taster jobs for atleast six months.

The programme is available for allbusinesses of any sector in Cumbria andcould see funding of around £6,500 perbusiness.

Corinne Watson, principal economicdevelopment officer for Cumbria CountyCouncil, said: “The Future Jobs Fund willget people, who have been unemployed for39 weeks or more, engaged in employ-ment. That will mean a host of benefits forthose involved such as training opportun-ities, making people as employable aspossible and giving them a positive intro-duction to the workplace.

“Through our partnership with localcolleges we have developed training needswhich will play a major part in the schemeand help to up-skill those involved in it.

“These are testing times for businessesat the moment and a financial incentive tothe figure of £6,500 will act as a catalyst tocreate posts and ease financial burden.

“There has been a lot of interest from allsectors in Cumbria and the response has

been fantastic over the last couple ofmonths. It’s also been perfect for helpingWest Cumbrian businesses in the floodrecovery phase, which are struggling withfinancial issues but are eager to get backup and running.”

The programme will be of particularbenefit to those areas along the EnergyCoast – West Cumbria and Furness whichare a priority to the scheme along withparts of Carlisle.

The Future Jobs Fund was announced inthe government’s 2009 budget and themoney will be spent up until March2011.

Cumbria was successful in securing thefunding to run the programmethroughout the county and joins a host ofother counties throughout the UK alsooffering the Future Jobs Fund.

It aims to create 170,000 additional jobsnationally and deliver real benefits tocommunities.

The fund is part of the Young Person’sGuarantee. From early 2010, everyone inbetween the ages of 18 and 24 who has beenlooking for work for nearly a year will getan offer of a job, work experience, ortraining lasting at least six months.

EMPLOYMENTby CLARE KINRADE

More jobs pledgeRIME Minister Gor-don Brown said:“When I came toCockermouth to seefor myself the impactof the Novemberfloods, I was ofcourse shocked by

the devastation caused. But I wasalso inspired by the resolve of localpeople.

“As I met those who had been forced toleave their homes and their possessionsbehind and watched the way communitieswere coming together, I saw a resiliencethat demonstrated the best side of theBritish spirit.

“The emergency services of course did afantastic job – we all have nothing butpraise for their enormous efforts and weremember too the courage of PC BillBarker, who gave his life for the safety ofothers.

“But I was struck by the way every singleresident pitched in and helped out.

“Those I met in the Sheep and WoolCentre had been through an extraordin-ary ordeal and yet there they were, withthe help of friends and neighbours, bail-ing out their belongings in waist-deepwater, salvaging stock and trying to getthe business back up and running.

“And of course, those in Cockermouthwere not the only ones in the region tohave faced upheaval; I know from experi-ence that everyone affected in Cumbriahas a steely determination to pick up thepieces and start again.

“And we all remember the damagecaused to Carlisle in the last floods, whichmight have happened again without theflood barriers the government built out-side the town recently.

“And it is because of this resilience that Ibelieve Cumbria can seize this opportun-ity to be at the heart of Britain’s trans-formation to a low carbon economy.

“While unusual events like the floodsand the recent cold snap demonstrate thecost of leaving climate change unchecked,everyday life in the county shows the

opportunities that delivering a greenfuture offer. Ever since the world’s firstcivil nuclear power station opened atCalder Hall, more than half a century ago,Cumbria has been supplying clean electri-city to the rest of the country.

“And there is no doubt that nuclearpower will be crucial to the next genera-tion of low carbon energy. Despite some,including the Conservatives, seeing nucle-ar as a last resort, I believe that it can be adriver for real change across the UK andespecially in Cumbria.

“With sites being considered in Bray-stones, Kirksanton and Sellafield it isclear there is a real opportunity for theregion to stay at the heart of Britain’snuclear future – and to reap the rewards ofthe jobs which will come with it.

“Cumbria is also at the forefront of ourefforts on renewable power sources.Today there are 16 onshore wind farms –and the Barrow offshore farm – bringinggreen power to the whole of the UK andjobs to the local area.

“And in January, the Crown Estateannounced a new off shore site in the IrishSea which I hope will mean more jobs inthe area.

“Britain is entering a new future –green, secure and prosperous. And Cum-bria, with its formidable workforce, worldclass skills and expertise, will be key tobringing alive a new generation of energyindustries and the next generation ofgreen jobs.

“Already there are an estimated 23,000people at work in the nuclear industry andas we invest in new energy sources –renewables and nuclear of course but alsoclean coal through ‘carbon capture andstorage’ technology – more jobs will becreated.

“So as we meet our international obliga-tions on climate change, we must alsoseize the opportunity for a comprehensive

transition to a greener, cleaner future forBritain – one which is fairer, stronger andmore prosperous for all. The British lowcarbon industry – with Cumbria at thevanguard – will be centre stage as theworld looks to the UK for state of the artgreen engineering.

“We estimate that 400,000 jobs will becreated by 2015 and Cumbrian manufac-turing and energy producers will be at theheart of our global efforts.

“But for that to happen you need agovernment fighting for those opportunit-ies to come to Britain and local MPsfighting for them to come to Cumbria.

“Whether it be Tony Cunninghamresponding to the floods across the Work-ington area, Jamie Reed standing up forSellafield or Eric Martlew arguing formore investment in Carlisle, the countyhas a proud track record of Labour MPsrepresenting this area.

“The work of John Hutton in Barrowalso shows why it makes a difference tohave a Labour MP – and, although John isnow retiring, the excellent Labour candid-ate John Woodcock, who I know well, willdo just as good a job in bringing jobs to thearea.

“Contrast that to the Tory attitude. Bri-tain has one of the greatest natural energyresources in the world – there are fewother countries which match our poten-tial for wind power generation.

“But around the country, Conservativepoliticians, including members of theirfrontbench team, routinely campaignagainst wind power – onshore and off.

“What that means for the local area wecannot be sure but it does not bode well ata time when the demand for green techno-logy is rising and the whole world will belooking to invest in energy clusters likeCumbria.

“Governments across the world have toswitch their sources of energy to tacklethe twin challenges of climate change andthe need to become less reliant on impor-ted oil and gas.

“I know that climate change is oftenseen as a distant and remote prospect butCumbria has seen the devastation severeweather conditions can bring.

“Now is the time, however, for it tobenefit as we lead the world ina low carbon future, meaningmore jobs and a safer future forthe whole county.”

Pby ANIKA BOURLEY

"The Future Jobs Fund will get people,who have been unemployed for 39 weeks

or more, engaged in employment”

WALK: Black Combe

WIND POWER: Prime Minister Gordon Brown stands next to a map of the British Isles during the launch of a new initiative to buildoff-shore wind farms, at Millbank Tower in central London last month LEON NEAL/PA WIRE

We have abright future

HE visionarywho has donemuch to champi-on the efforts totransform WestCumbria for aquarter of acentury now

predicts a great future.Professor John Fyfe, a Scot born

and bred in Fife, said: “I think wecan make this a place with one of thehighest qualities of life, not just inBritain but the world.

“One of the few growth areas in arecession is energy and environ-ment – we’ve got them. We are in aunique position, it’s priceless.”

Over the past quarter of a centurythe eminent Oxford-educated downto earth professor has worked muchof his magic quietly coaxing, cajol-ing and badgering if necessary in thecorridors of power, so effectivelythat he was recently honoured in theNew Year Honours as a Commanderof the British Empire.

Cumbria Vision is working withthe Britain’s Energy Coast WestCumbria Board to drive through a£2bn package of West Cumbrian gen-eration projects and John Fyfe is itsstrategy chairman.

Now, he says, the prize is to be oneof the world centres in energyrelated research and technology.

And he is adamant about what hecalls the two Ps – Partnership andPersistence.

He said: “There are so many poten-tial nuggets, there are gift horsesand we must not look them in themouth. Despite the nuggets we havestill got to work together, it’s notgoing to be God-given.

He talks of the enablers – roads,transport, access, ports, education,training and health – these createjobs as well.

He said: “We must ensure theresources we’re getting from newindustry, new companies and gov-ernment go towards improvements.

“The new players that are comingin, the big companies who want todevelop the nuclear industry and arealso going to benefit have a respons-ibility as well as government. It hasto be a common vision.

Transport, communications, edu-cation and training are high on hisagenda for pressing in Westminsterand Whitehall.

The former coal mining tradesunion official said: “Tremendousprogress has been secured alreadyfor the future, but much depends onus all working together in partner-ship more than ever before.

“Much of the recent progress is duenot only to the revival of the nuclearindustry but also very special andeffective leadership at both nationaland local levels.

“However, there needs to be a muchstronger and broader-based involve-ment of the private sector, which isalready happening with NuclearDecommissioning Authority andNuclear Management Partners.

“The future for West Cumbria isbright but we must continue to worktogether across the divide for thebenefits of generations to come.”

T BIG INTERVIEWby ALAN IRVING

The Port of Barrow, owned and operated by Associated British Ports, is ideally placed toserve the needs of Offshore Renewable Energy projects in the Irish Sea.

To find out how ABP can help your business contact:+44 (0) 1229 822911 or email barrow@abports.co.uk

THE UK’S LARGEST AND LEADING PORTS GROUP

ASSOCIATED

BRITISH PORTS

Port of Barrow

LAURA LEWTHWAITE, 24,Project Administrator at

Barrow RegenerationI LOVE working on Britain's EnergyCoast™ because...

It’s a great opportunity to make a differencein the Cumbria area. It’s a fantastic area andhas loads of potential.

Describe your commute to work...A 45-minute drive from Millom, along the

Cumbrian countryside.What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...Cumbria has lots to see

and do, you don’t needto travel miles to seethe great views.

When I am notworking myperfect day inCumbria is...

I love going to thelakes, and seeing theview of Windermere asyou drive towards thelake.

My favourite place in the whole ofCumbria is...

Ambleside, the local fish and chip shop isgreat.

My favourite outdoor pursuit is...Walking up Black Combe. It’s a fantastic

walk and only a few miles from Millom.My favourite three-course Cumbrian

meal is...Potted Morecambe Bay shrimps, local

Cumberland Sausage from Richard Woodall’sat Waberthwaite and Cartmel Sticky ToffeePudding with toffee sauce for dessert. Yum!

My favourite drink is...Dry Martini and lemonade although more

than one always tastes better!!My favourite

place to eatout is...

The Com-modore atHaverigg, theview from therestaurant isbrilliant and it’snot very oftenthat you can sitand look out atthe fantasticsunset over thewater, whileeating yourfavourite meal.

If someonefrom abroadhad never been to Cumbria before the onething I would tell them was the greatestaspect of living and working around herewould be...

The safety of living and working in a smallCumbrian town, but having big open viewsand opportunities also on your doorstep.

10 11

BIG INTERVIEW

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

FAVE: Sausages from Waberthwaite

Morecambe Bayshrimps

PRIME Minister GordonBrown explains how

Cumbria is positioned tolead on energy, and how

energy is a positive driverfor rebuilding and

regeneration after the floods

VISION: Professor JohnFyfe addresses thelaunch of Cumbria Visionat the Sellafield VisitorCentre MIKE MCKENZIE

"I saw a resilience thatdemonstrated the bestside of the British spirit”

– PM GORDON BROWN

New jobs scheme willget people back to work

A NEW county-wide jobs scheme couldsee more than 100 people helped intoemployment.

The Future Jobs Fund, run by CumbriaCounty Council, will help nearly 130people aged 18 to 24 into work followinglong-term unemployment.

The government scheme will run untilMay this year and will support localemployers to create new taster jobs for atleast six months.

The programme is available for allbusinesses of any sector in Cumbria andcould see funding of around £6,500 perbusiness.

Corinne Watson, principal economicdevelopment officer for Cumbria CountyCouncil, said: “The Future Jobs Fund willget people, who have been unemployed for39 weeks or more, engaged in employ-ment. That will mean a host of benefits forthose involved such as training opportun-ities, making people as employable aspossible and giving them a positive intro-duction to the workplace.

“Through our partnership with localcolleges we have developed training needswhich will play a major part in the schemeand help to up-skill those involved in it.

“These are testing times for businessesat the moment and a financial incentive tothe figure of £6,500 will act as a catalyst tocreate posts and ease financial burden.

“There has been a lot of interest from allsectors in Cumbria and the response has

been fantastic over the last couple ofmonths. It’s also been perfect for helpingWest Cumbrian businesses in the floodrecovery phase, which are struggling withfinancial issues but are eager to get backup and running.”

The programme will be of particularbenefit to those areas along the EnergyCoast – West Cumbria and Furness whichare a priority to the scheme along withparts of Carlisle.

The Future Jobs Fund was announced inthe government’s 2009 budget and themoney will be spent up until March2011.

Cumbria was successful in securing thefunding to run the programmethroughout the county and joins a host ofother counties throughout the UK alsooffering the Future Jobs Fund.

It aims to create 170,000 additional jobsnationally and deliver real benefits tocommunities.

The fund is part of the Young Person’sGuarantee. From early 2010, everyone inbetween the ages of 18 and 24 who has beenlooking for work for nearly a year will getan offer of a job, work experience, ortraining lasting at least six months.

EMPLOYMENTby CLARE KINRADE

More jobs pledgeRIME Minister Gor-don Brown said:“When I came toCockermouth to seefor myself the impactof the Novemberfloods, I was ofcourse shocked by

the devastation caused. But I wasalso inspired by the resolve of localpeople.

“As I met those who had been forced toleave their homes and their possessionsbehind and watched the way communitieswere coming together, I saw a resiliencethat demonstrated the best side of theBritish spirit.

“The emergency services of course did afantastic job – we all have nothing butpraise for their enormous efforts and weremember too the courage of PC BillBarker, who gave his life for the safety ofothers.

“But I was struck by the way every singleresident pitched in and helped out.

“Those I met in the Sheep and WoolCentre had been through an extraordin-ary ordeal and yet there they were, withthe help of friends and neighbours, bail-ing out their belongings in waist-deepwater, salvaging stock and trying to getthe business back up and running.

“And of course, those in Cockermouthwere not the only ones in the region tohave faced upheaval; I know from experi-ence that everyone affected in Cumbriahas a steely determination to pick up thepieces and start again.

“And we all remember the damagecaused to Carlisle in the last floods, whichmight have happened again without theflood barriers the government built out-side the town recently.

“And it is because of this resilience that Ibelieve Cumbria can seize this opportun-ity to be at the heart of Britain’s trans-formation to a low carbon economy.

“While unusual events like the floodsand the recent cold snap demonstrate thecost of leaving climate change unchecked,everyday life in the county shows the

opportunities that delivering a greenfuture offer. Ever since the world’s firstcivil nuclear power station opened atCalder Hall, more than half a century ago,Cumbria has been supplying clean electri-city to the rest of the country.

“And there is no doubt that nuclearpower will be crucial to the next genera-tion of low carbon energy. Despite some,including the Conservatives, seeing nucle-ar as a last resort, I believe that it can be adriver for real change across the UK andespecially in Cumbria.

“With sites being considered in Bray-stones, Kirksanton and Sellafield it isclear there is a real opportunity for theregion to stay at the heart of Britain’snuclear future – and to reap the rewards ofthe jobs which will come with it.

“Cumbria is also at the forefront of ourefforts on renewable power sources.Today there are 16 onshore wind farms –and the Barrow offshore farm – bringinggreen power to the whole of the UK andjobs to the local area.

“And in January, the Crown Estateannounced a new off shore site in the IrishSea which I hope will mean more jobs inthe area.

“Britain is entering a new future –green, secure and prosperous. And Cum-bria, with its formidable workforce, worldclass skills and expertise, will be key tobringing alive a new generation of energyindustries and the next generation ofgreen jobs.

“Already there are an estimated 23,000people at work in the nuclear industry andas we invest in new energy sources –renewables and nuclear of course but alsoclean coal through ‘carbon capture andstorage’ technology – more jobs will becreated.

“So as we meet our international obliga-tions on climate change, we must alsoseize the opportunity for a comprehensive

transition to a greener, cleaner future forBritain – one which is fairer, stronger andmore prosperous for all. The British lowcarbon industry – with Cumbria at thevanguard – will be centre stage as theworld looks to the UK for state of the artgreen engineering.

“We estimate that 400,000 jobs will becreated by 2015 and Cumbrian manufac-turing and energy producers will be at theheart of our global efforts.

“But for that to happen you need agovernment fighting for those opportunit-ies to come to Britain and local MPsfighting for them to come to Cumbria.

“Whether it be Tony Cunninghamresponding to the floods across the Work-ington area, Jamie Reed standing up forSellafield or Eric Martlew arguing formore investment in Carlisle, the countyhas a proud track record of Labour MPsrepresenting this area.

“The work of John Hutton in Barrowalso shows why it makes a difference tohave a Labour MP – and, although John isnow retiring, the excellent Labour candid-ate John Woodcock, who I know well, willdo just as good a job in bringing jobs to thearea.

“Contrast that to the Tory attitude. Bri-tain has one of the greatest natural energyresources in the world – there are fewother countries which match our poten-tial for wind power generation.

“But around the country, Conservativepoliticians, including members of theirfrontbench team, routinely campaignagainst wind power – onshore and off.

“What that means for the local area wecannot be sure but it does not bode well ata time when the demand for green techno-logy is rising and the whole world will belooking to invest in energy clusters likeCumbria.

“Governments across the world have toswitch their sources of energy to tacklethe twin challenges of climate change andthe need to become less reliant on impor-ted oil and gas.

“I know that climate change is oftenseen as a distant and remote prospect butCumbria has seen the devastation severeweather conditions can bring.

“Now is the time, however, for it tobenefit as we lead the world ina low carbon future, meaningmore jobs and a safer future forthe whole county.”

Pby ANIKA BOURLEY

"The Future Jobs Fund will get people,who have been unemployed for 39 weeks

or more, engaged in employment”

WALK: Black Combe

WIND POWER: Prime Minister Gordon Brown stands next to a map of the British Isles during the launch of a new initiative to buildoff-shore wind farms, at Millbank Tower in central London last month LEON NEAL/PA WIRE

We have abright future

HE visionarywho has donemuch to champi-on the efforts totransform WestCumbria for aquarter of acentury now

predicts a great future.Professor John Fyfe, a Scot born

and bred in Fife, said: “I think wecan make this a place with one of thehighest qualities of life, not just inBritain but the world.

“One of the few growth areas in arecession is energy and environ-ment – we’ve got them. We are in aunique position, it’s priceless.”

Over the past quarter of a centurythe eminent Oxford-educated downto earth professor has worked muchof his magic quietly coaxing, cajol-ing and badgering if necessary in thecorridors of power, so effectivelythat he was recently honoured in theNew Year Honours as a Commanderof the British Empire.

Cumbria Vision is working withthe Britain’s Energy Coast WestCumbria Board to drive through a£2bn package of West Cumbrian gen-eration projects and John Fyfe is itsstrategy chairman.

Now, he says, the prize is to be oneof the world centres in energyrelated research and technology.

And he is adamant about what hecalls the two Ps – Partnership andPersistence.

He said: “There are so many poten-tial nuggets, there are gift horsesand we must not look them in themouth. Despite the nuggets we havestill got to work together, it’s notgoing to be God-given.

He talks of the enablers – roads,transport, access, ports, education,training and health – these createjobs as well.

He said: “We must ensure theresources we’re getting from newindustry, new companies and gov-ernment go towards improvements.

“The new players that are comingin, the big companies who want todevelop the nuclear industry and arealso going to benefit have a respons-ibility as well as government. It hasto be a common vision.

Transport, communications, edu-cation and training are high on hisagenda for pressing in Westminsterand Whitehall.

The former coal mining tradesunion official said: “Tremendousprogress has been secured alreadyfor the future, but much depends onus all working together in partner-ship more than ever before.

“Much of the recent progress is duenot only to the revival of the nuclearindustry but also very special andeffective leadership at both nationaland local levels.

“However, there needs to be a muchstronger and broader-based involve-ment of the private sector, which isalready happening with NuclearDecommissioning Authority andNuclear Management Partners.

“The future for West Cumbria isbright but we must continue to worktogether across the divide for thebenefits of generations to come.”

T BIG INTERVIEWby ALAN IRVING

The Port of Barrow, owned and operated by Associated British Ports, is ideally placed toserve the needs of Offshore Renewable Energy projects in the Irish Sea.

To find out how ABP can help your business contact:+44 (0) 1229 822911 or email barrow@abports.co.uk

THE UK’S LARGEST AND LEADING PORTS GROUP

ASSOCIATED

BRITISH PORTS

Port of Barrow

EDUCATION and skillsfeature heavily in theBritain’s EnergyCoast™ agenda whichpledges to deliver train-ing and expertise thatwill shape tomorrow’s

West Cumbrian workforce into aworld class outfit.

One woman, who is not only takingadvantage of those world class trainingand skills but involved in helping to devel-op the future of the projects, is projectadministrator for Britain’s Energy CoastWest Cumbria, Kimberley Elliott.

The 22-year-old has worked with theWestlakes Science Park-based team sinceAugust 2005. In fact, it has been Kimber-ley’s only job since leaving sixth form.

Now an undergraduate with the Uni-versity of Cumbria, Kimberley has playedan important role in some of the energycoast’s major projects. Starting out as atrainee administration assistant, she hasbenefitted enormously from the educa-tional opportunities on offer.

From an NVQ level 2 in business admin-istration, which Kimberley completed in2006, on to a level 3 course – which she alsosuccessfully passed – she has gained un-precedented knowledge and experience inproject work. July 2006 saw Kimberley, ofWhitehaven, employed as a fully-qualifiedproject administration assistant with theenergy coast team.

She said: “I have been involved with a lotof big projects in the area including Ener-gus at Lillyhall, the Port of Workington,Whitehaven’s Beacon and the Universityof Central Lancashire campus here on theScience Park.

“The training and support I have re-ceived throughout my career has seen meundertaking basic administration taskswhen I first started, to project monitoringfor some of the major Energy Coast pro-jects.”

Kimberley, who is the youngest memberof Britain’s Energy Coast West Cumbria,also added a diploma in business manage-ment to her collection of qualificationsand three years ago became a projectadministrator.

She said: “I am assigned to certain pro-jects which involve everything from theclaims process to carrying out monitoringvisits.

“Whitehaven’s Albion Square project isone that I’m looking after at the mo-ment.”

Kimberley’s career became more de-manding in 2008 when she started abusiness management degree with theUniversity of Cumbria – one that shestudies at Energus, a hailed EnergyCoast project.

Although a challenging task to fit ina degree with a full-time job, Kimber-ley said she has gained a betterunderstanding to various aspects ofher job.

She said: “The HR aspect andproject management backgroundto the degree has proved to bepretty useful for me.

“But studying a degree meansmuch more to me – it’s a personaland professional development.

“I feel very lucky at my age to be herewhen all these new educational oppor-tunities are developing in West Cum-bria. It’s allowing people like me, whoare in full-time employment, to continuestudying and training without having tomove outside the area to access firstclass higher and further education.

“It’s an exciting time for West Cum-bria and I’m extremely proud I’mcontributing to the future of thearea.”

Kimberley, who got engagedin New York over Christ-mas, said watching pro-jects develop over thelast few years andknowing what pro-jects are yet to comehas opened her eyes to anew West Cumbria.

“The Energy Coast isoffering people, of all ages,the opportunity to stay inWest Cumbria,” she said. “Itis and will be a brilliant placeto be and I’m proud to beworking on projects that willbe here for generations tocome.

“Seeing the end result is thefavourite part of my job - I wit-ness it regularly when I visit theEnergus facility. There are a lotmore young people choosing tostay and study locally becausethey can do so now.”

12

WINDFARMS

13

NICHOLAS HARDY, 34,Maryport HousingMarket Renewal

ManagerI LOVE working on Britain’s EnergyCoast™ because...

I get the chance to deliver improvementsand benefits for the area I have lived in all mylife.

Describe your commute to work...Very different since the floods in Novem-

ber!What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...The magnificent coastline and coastal

scenery.When I am not working my perfect day in

Cumbria is...A brisk walk along the coast in the morning,

lunch at one of the many local pubs followedby an afternoonwatching a local gameof football, rugby orcricket.

My favourite placein the whole of Cum-bria is....

I love being by theshore in Workington,especially when thesun is setting.

My favourite out-door pursuit is...

Walking in the west-ern Lake District andexploring the coast.

My favourite three-course Cumbrianmeal is...

Homemade veget-able soup, Cumber-land Sausage andmash (with oniongravy) and my Gran’shomemade gingerbread.

My favourite drink is...Dependent on the time day! Our water is the

best in the country, but a glass of red wine withan evening meal is a nice occasional treat.

My favourite place to eat out is...The Yew Tree at Dean.If someone from abroad had never been

to Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be.....

The diverse mix of opportunities presentedby the areas combination of rural and urbanlifestyles; coastal and Lakeland scenery, en-ergy and tranquillity.

WALK: Part of the Workington shore

EDUCATIONby CLARE KINRADE

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

OCCASIONALTREAT: Red wine isa favourite

“I feel lucky to be here when all thesenew educational opportunities are

developing in West Cumbria”

ETop class skillsBIG PROJECT: An artist's impression of £15m office complex sheme in Whitehaven called Albion Square could look. This developmentis being looked after by project administrator for Britain’s Energy Coast™ West Cumbria, Kimberley Elliott, pictured below

Wind is the future for WalneyONG Energy and SSE(Scottish and SouthernEnergy) are the compan-ies behind Walney (UK)Offshore WindfarmsLimited.

DONG Energy holds a 74.9 per cent stake,and will be the leading partner in theconstruction and operational phases ofthe Walney Offshore Windfarm. SSE holdsa 25.1 per centstake.

DONG Energy is one of the leadingenergy groups in Northern Europe and isheadquartered in Denmark. The com-pany’s business is based on procuring,producing, distributing and trading inenergy and related products in NorthernEurope.

DONG Energy has approximately 5,500employees and generated more than DKK60 billion (approx. £8.2bn) in revenue in2008.

Great Britain is one of DONG Energy’sprimary markets for offshore wind. Cur-rently DONG Energy has a capacity of 745MW offshore wind power in operation andsome 657MW under construction in theUK. It also has over 1,900MW of offshorewind farm capacity with consent for de-velopment in northern Europe, includingthe Dutch and German sector of the NorthSea.

SSE is a FTSE-100 companyheadquartered in Perth, employing morethan 19,000 people. The company has amarket capitalisation of around £10bn,and supplies over 9.6 million energy cus-tomers in Great Britain and Ireland.

It has a 50 per cent share of the 500MWGreater Gabbard wind farm now underconstruction in the outer Thames Estuaryand it has a total of 3,530MW of renewableenergy capacity (onshore wind, offshorewind, hydro and dedicated biomass) in

operation, under construction or withconsent in the UK and the Republic ofIreland.

It also has over 1,900MW of offshore windfarm capacity with consent for develop-ment in northern Europe, including theDutch sector of the North Sea.

MAIN CONTRACTORS -FOR WALNEY 1 AND WALNEY 2.

Wind turbinesSiemens PLC (UK) (Walney 1 & 2)

Wind turbine installation:Seajacks UK Ltd. (UK) (Walney 1 & 2)

Foundations:Erndtebrücker Eisenwerk GmbH & Co.

KG (Germany) (Walney 1 & 2)Foundation installation:

Geosea NV (Belgium) (Walney 1 & 2)Ballast Nedam (NL) (Walney 2)

Offshore substation:Bladt Industries A/S (Denmark) (Wal-

ney 1 & 2)Offshore substation installation:

Scaldis Salvage and Marine ContractorsN.V. (Belgium) (Walney 1 & 2)

Export cable delivery:Prysmian PowerLink Srl (Italy) (Walney

1 & 2)Array cables:

NKT Cables A/S (Denmark) (Walney 1)Draka Norsk Kabel A/S (Norway) (Wal-

ney 2)Array and export cable installation:

Global Marine Systems Limited (UK) injoint venture with Visser & Smit MarineContracting (NL) (Walney 1 & 2)

You can follow the progress on theproject on our homepage.

Please visit: www.wowind.co.ukProject details

The Walney Offshore Windfarm project

is located approximately 15km west ofBarrow. The project consists of Walney 1and Walney 2 each with 51 - 3.6MW tur-bines, giving a total capacity of the Walneyproject of approximately 370MW.

The rotor diameter of the turbines is107m for Walney 1 and 120m for Walney 2,with a maximum height of 150m fromblade tip to sea level. The total area of thedevelopment is 73km2.

Walney 1 and Walney 2 will be construc-ted sequentially, leading to periods of in-tense construction activity particularlyduring Walney 2 when parallel installa-tion activities will shorten the construc-tion timeframe.

Crane barges, jack-up vessels and tugswill be working out of ports in the EastIrish Sea area, primarily Barrow andMostyn harbours. These vessels will bepositioned using state-of-the-art position-ing systems for pin-point accuracy.

A number of smaller vessels will besupporting the work by carrying out sur-veys and continuing environmental mon-itoring studies, they will also be used toferry personnel to and from the windfarm.

A temporary 500m safety zone will beestablished around the offshore site dur-ing construction. Once the commission-ing phase has finished both fishing andleisure craft will be permitted to passthrough the wind farm site.

When the project is completed, approx-imately 320,000 homes or all of the house-holds in Cumbria could be provided withclean electricity in the years to come. Theproject makes a considerable contributionto the domestic UK target of reducing CO2emissions.

Monopile and transitionpiece installation

The foundations will be installed using acrane barge. Each monopile for Walney 1

is up to 56m tall and weighs almost 600tonnes. The monopiles will be driven ap-proximately 30m into the seabed by ahydraulic hammer – a process which willlast between two and four hours per mono-pile.

The transition pieces are then mountedon top of the monopile by crane andgrouted in place. The transition pieces arepainted yellow to assist with navigation.Each transition piece weighs approxim-ately 300 tonnes and is 24m tall.

Turbine installation

The 3.6MW wind turbines will arrive atMostyn harbour, North Wales, directly bybarge from Esbjerg, Denmark. The maintower is assembled first, followed by theturbine nacelle, hub and finally the threeblades are fitted. The total weight of eachturbine is approximately 375 tonnes.

Turbine installation will commencefrom summer 2010 (Walney 1) and fromspring 2011 (Walney 2). Construction ofWalney 2 will be compressed due to mul-tiple vessels being on site at the sametime.

Project commissioning

The wind farm will be commissioned insections as the turbines become availablefor energy production. Commissioningwill start during autumn 2010, and bothWalney 1 and Walney 2 will reach fullproduction towards the end of 2011.

Offshore cable laying

The export cable will run from the off-shore transformer stations to shore andwill be buried to a depth of approximately2m. The cable installation barge, “StematSpirit” will commence installation duringthe summer of 2010 (Walney 1) and thesummer of 2011 (Walney 2).

D

EDUCATION and skillsfeature heavily in theBritain’s EnergyCoast™ agenda whichpledges to deliver train-ing and expertise thatwill shape tomorrow’s

West Cumbrian workforce into aworld class outfit.

One woman, who is not only takingadvantage of those world class trainingand skills but involved in helping to devel-op the future of the projects, is projectadministrator for Britain’s Energy CoastWest Cumbria, Kimberley Elliott.

The 22-year-old has worked with theWestlakes Science Park-based team sinceAugust 2005. In fact, it has been Kimber-ley’s only job since leaving sixth form.

Now an undergraduate with the Uni-versity of Cumbria, Kimberley has playedan important role in some of the energycoast’s major projects. Starting out as atrainee administration assistant, she hasbenefitted enormously from the educa-tional opportunities on offer.

From an NVQ level 2 in business admin-istration, which Kimberley completed in2006, on to a level 3 course – which she alsosuccessfully passed – she has gained un-precedented knowledge and experience inproject work. July 2006 saw Kimberley, ofWhitehaven, employed as a fully-qualifiedproject administration assistant with theenergy coast team.

She said: “I have been involved with a lotof big projects in the area including Ener-gus at Lillyhall, the Port of Workington,Whitehaven’s Beacon and the Universityof Central Lancashire campus here on theScience Park.

“The training and support I have re-ceived throughout my career has seen meundertaking basic administration taskswhen I first started, to project monitoringfor some of the major Energy Coast pro-jects.”

Kimberley, who is the youngest memberof Britain’s Energy Coast West Cumbria,also added a diploma in business manage-ment to her collection of qualificationsand three years ago became a projectadministrator.

She said: “I am assigned to certain pro-jects which involve everything from theclaims process to carrying out monitoringvisits.

“Whitehaven’s Albion Square project isone that I’m looking after at the mo-ment.”

Kimberley’s career became more de-manding in 2008 when she started abusiness management degree with theUniversity of Cumbria – one that shestudies at Energus, a hailed EnergyCoast project.

Although a challenging task to fit ina degree with a full-time job, Kimber-ley said she has gained a betterunderstanding to various aspects ofher job.

She said: “The HR aspect andproject management backgroundto the degree has proved to bepretty useful for me.

“But studying a degree meansmuch more to me – it’s a personaland professional development.

“I feel very lucky at my age to be herewhen all these new educational oppor-tunities are developing in West Cum-bria. It’s allowing people like me, whoare in full-time employment, to continuestudying and training without having tomove outside the area to access firstclass higher and further education.

“It’s an exciting time for West Cum-bria and I’m extremely proud I’mcontributing to the future of thearea.”

Kimberley, who got engagedin New York over Christ-mas, said watching pro-jects develop over thelast few years andknowing what pro-jects are yet to comehas opened her eyes to anew West Cumbria.

“The Energy Coast isoffering people, of all ages,the opportunity to stay inWest Cumbria,” she said. “Itis and will be a brilliant placeto be and I’m proud to beworking on projects that willbe here for generations tocome.

“Seeing the end result is thefavourite part of my job - I wit-ness it regularly when I visit theEnergus facility. There are a lotmore young people choosing tostay and study locally becausethey can do so now.”

12

WINDFARMS

13

NICHOLAS HARDY, 34,Maryport HousingMarket Renewal

ManagerI LOVE working on Britain’s EnergyCoast™ because...

I get the chance to deliver improvementsand benefits for the area I have lived in all mylife.

Describe your commute to work...Very different since the floods in Novem-

ber!What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...The magnificent coastline and coastal

scenery.When I am not working my perfect day in

Cumbria is...A brisk walk along the coast in the morning,

lunch at one of the many local pubs followedby an afternoonwatching a local gameof football, rugby orcricket.

My favourite placein the whole of Cum-bria is....

I love being by theshore in Workington,especially when thesun is setting.

My favourite out-door pursuit is...

Walking in the west-ern Lake District andexploring the coast.

My favourite three-course Cumbrianmeal is...

Homemade veget-able soup, Cumber-land Sausage andmash (with oniongravy) and my Gran’shomemade gingerbread.

My favourite drink is...Dependent on the time day! Our water is the

best in the country, but a glass of red wine withan evening meal is a nice occasional treat.

My favourite place to eat out is...The Yew Tree at Dean.If someone from abroad had never been

to Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be.....

The diverse mix of opportunities presentedby the areas combination of rural and urbanlifestyles; coastal and Lakeland scenery, en-ergy and tranquillity.

WALK: Part of the Workington shore

EDUCATIONby CLARE KINRADE

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

OCCASIONALTREAT: Red wine isa favourite

“I feel lucky to be here when all thesenew educational opportunities are

developing in West Cumbria”

ETop class skillsBIG PROJECT: An artist's impression of £15m office complex sheme in Whitehaven called Albion Square could look. This developmentis being looked after by project administrator for Britain’s Energy Coast™ West Cumbria, Kimberley Elliott, pictured below

Wind is the future for WalneyONG Energy and SSE(Scottish and SouthernEnergy) are the compan-ies behind Walney (UK)Offshore WindfarmsLimited.

DONG Energy holds a 74.9 per cent stake,and will be the leading partner in theconstruction and operational phases ofthe Walney Offshore Windfarm. SSE holdsa 25.1 per centstake.

DONG Energy is one of the leadingenergy groups in Northern Europe and isheadquartered in Denmark. The com-pany’s business is based on procuring,producing, distributing and trading inenergy and related products in NorthernEurope.

DONG Energy has approximately 5,500employees and generated more than DKK60 billion (approx. £8.2bn) in revenue in2008.

Great Britain is one of DONG Energy’sprimary markets for offshore wind. Cur-rently DONG Energy has a capacity of 745MW offshore wind power in operation andsome 657MW under construction in theUK. It also has over 1,900MW of offshorewind farm capacity with consent for de-velopment in northern Europe, includingthe Dutch and German sector of the NorthSea.

SSE is a FTSE-100 companyheadquartered in Perth, employing morethan 19,000 people. The company has amarket capitalisation of around £10bn,and supplies over 9.6 million energy cus-tomers in Great Britain and Ireland.

It has a 50 per cent share of the 500MWGreater Gabbard wind farm now underconstruction in the outer Thames Estuaryand it has a total of 3,530MW of renewableenergy capacity (onshore wind, offshorewind, hydro and dedicated biomass) in

operation, under construction or withconsent in the UK and the Republic ofIreland.

It also has over 1,900MW of offshore windfarm capacity with consent for develop-ment in northern Europe, including theDutch sector of the North Sea.

MAIN CONTRACTORS -FOR WALNEY 1 AND WALNEY 2.

Wind turbinesSiemens PLC (UK) (Walney 1 & 2)

Wind turbine installation:Seajacks UK Ltd. (UK) (Walney 1 & 2)

Foundations:Erndtebrücker Eisenwerk GmbH & Co.

KG (Germany) (Walney 1 & 2)Foundation installation:

Geosea NV (Belgium) (Walney 1 & 2)Ballast Nedam (NL) (Walney 2)

Offshore substation:Bladt Industries A/S (Denmark) (Wal-

ney 1 & 2)Offshore substation installation:

Scaldis Salvage and Marine ContractorsN.V. (Belgium) (Walney 1 & 2)

Export cable delivery:Prysmian PowerLink Srl (Italy) (Walney

1 & 2)Array cables:

NKT Cables A/S (Denmark) (Walney 1)Draka Norsk Kabel A/S (Norway) (Wal-

ney 2)Array and export cable installation:

Global Marine Systems Limited (UK) injoint venture with Visser & Smit MarineContracting (NL) (Walney 1 & 2)

You can follow the progress on theproject on our homepage.

Please visit: www.wowind.co.ukProject details

The Walney Offshore Windfarm project

is located approximately 15km west ofBarrow. The project consists of Walney 1and Walney 2 each with 51 - 3.6MW tur-bines, giving a total capacity of the Walneyproject of approximately 370MW.

The rotor diameter of the turbines is107m for Walney 1 and 120m for Walney 2,with a maximum height of 150m fromblade tip to sea level. The total area of thedevelopment is 73km2.

Walney 1 and Walney 2 will be construc-ted sequentially, leading to periods of in-tense construction activity particularlyduring Walney 2 when parallel installa-tion activities will shorten the construc-tion timeframe.

Crane barges, jack-up vessels and tugswill be working out of ports in the EastIrish Sea area, primarily Barrow andMostyn harbours. These vessels will bepositioned using state-of-the-art position-ing systems for pin-point accuracy.

A number of smaller vessels will besupporting the work by carrying out sur-veys and continuing environmental mon-itoring studies, they will also be used toferry personnel to and from the windfarm.

A temporary 500m safety zone will beestablished around the offshore site dur-ing construction. Once the commission-ing phase has finished both fishing andleisure craft will be permitted to passthrough the wind farm site.

When the project is completed, approx-imately 320,000 homes or all of the house-holds in Cumbria could be provided withclean electricity in the years to come. Theproject makes a considerable contributionto the domestic UK target of reducing CO2emissions.

Monopile and transitionpiece installation

The foundations will be installed using acrane barge. Each monopile for Walney 1

is up to 56m tall and weighs almost 600tonnes. The monopiles will be driven ap-proximately 30m into the seabed by ahydraulic hammer – a process which willlast between two and four hours per mono-pile.

The transition pieces are then mountedon top of the monopile by crane andgrouted in place. The transition pieces arepainted yellow to assist with navigation.Each transition piece weighs approxim-ately 300 tonnes and is 24m tall.

Turbine installation

The 3.6MW wind turbines will arrive atMostyn harbour, North Wales, directly bybarge from Esbjerg, Denmark. The maintower is assembled first, followed by theturbine nacelle, hub and finally the threeblades are fitted. The total weight of eachturbine is approximately 375 tonnes.

Turbine installation will commencefrom summer 2010 (Walney 1) and fromspring 2011 (Walney 2). Construction ofWalney 2 will be compressed due to mul-tiple vessels being on site at the sametime.

Project commissioning

The wind farm will be commissioned insections as the turbines become availablefor energy production. Commissioningwill start during autumn 2010, and bothWalney 1 and Walney 2 will reach fullproduction towards the end of 2011.

Offshore cable laying

The export cable will run from the off-shore transformer stations to shore andwill be buried to a depth of approximately2m. The cable installation barge, “StematSpirit” will commence installation duringthe summer of 2010 (Walney 1) and thesummer of 2011 (Walney 2).

D

gramme. He said: “I think the main points aremaking Cumbria’s coast an example of a newapproach to energy supply.

“It would encompass not just economicgrowth, but also provide an example of energysecurity to a region while meeting interna-tional restrictions on greenhouse gas emis-sions or even bettering them through thedevelopment of holistic carbon accountingmeasures throughout the projects’ spans.”

Speaking at his business and charityheadquarters in The Gill, Ulverston, which isheated from underground pipes, he said:“Cumbria could be world-leaders in provingthat greenhouse gas mitigation can work sideby side with the business case of traditionalmarket and economic growth

“It would be a large-scale, industrial ex-ample to other regions and countries.

“If lessons are learnt first in somewherelike Cumbria, that has a workforce

learned in engineering and energysupply, the expertise could be asvaluable as the projects them-selves.”

Referring to the November floods,he said: “Cumbria has been hardesthit of all UK counties in recenttimes by an ever changing climate,

would it not be fitting that thecounty reacted in a positive

manner and acceptedthe challenge of re-

ducing their de-pendence onfuels that areset to increasein price whilethey dimin-ish, and areseen to manyas the maincontributorto globalclimatechange.”

15

CUMBRIA’S renewable energy options,from offshore wind to biomass (wood

burning) and tidal, but excludingnuclear, could end up generatingbetween 3.2 and 5.4 gigawatts ofpower by 2050 and be employing

between 4,262 and 7,550 people. Thatis according to a report The Scope for

Renewable Energy in Cumbria

Solar power could still be asource of 40 megawatts to 100megawatts of power in the countyand create between 528 jobs to 1,320jobs. A study of renewable energypotential in the county says solarpower could be generating 20megawatts and be employing 594people in the county within 10 years

HYDRO electric power schemes inCumbria could be expanded to

create six megawatts of electricpower in 10 years time when it

could be employing 270 people. Atpresent there are 15 operational

plants in Cumbria

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

WATT’S THE DEAL

Roger’s mission

14

LOW CARBONby JOHN SIMPSON

We canplay apivotal

roleCUMBRIA is primed toplay a pivotal role inBritain’s nuclearrenaissance as part ofthe government’s newLow Carbon EconomicArea for Nuclear.

The Department for Busi-ness, Innovation and Skillsannounced that the NorthWest and Yorkshire have be-come Britain’s Low CarbonEconomic Area for nuclear.

LCEA status is not onlyrecognition of the nuclearindustry’s unique assetsand capabilities in the re-gion, but also reflects thegovernment’s desire for thenominated geographicalhub to play an importantleadership and coordina-tion role to accelerate nucle-ar developments across thewhole of Britain.

West Cumbria is the coun-try’s most important loca-tion for advanced nuclearengineering, fuel repro-cessing and decommission-ing.

It is home to Sellafield; Bri-tain’s only Low Level WasteRepository; the NationalNuclear Laboratory and Na-tional Skills Academy forNuclear, based at Energus inWorkington; and the Uni-versity of Central Lan-cashire’s recently revampedcampus UCLan@Westlakesbased at Westlakes Scienceand Technology Park,which is one of the mostimportant clusters of nucle-ar-related businesses inEurope.

These sites will bebolstered by the Universityof Manchester’s £20m teach-ing and education centre,the Dalton Cumbria Facil-ity.

Cumbria also has three ofthe 10 sites proposed for newnuclear power stations,with public sector partnersbehind the Britain’s EnergyCoast™ initiative leadingthe nomination of a site ad-jacent to Sellafield.

All three sites are cur-rently going throughthe first stage of apublic consultation.

LOW CARBON

HESE are good times forRoger Chapman. Morethan a decade ago he sug-gested that Cumbria, orat least Barrow, shouldspearhead an experi-ment in the use of elec-tric vehicles to improve

the environment.He wasn’t taken too seriously at the time,

but now electric vehicles are one of a basket ofclimate change options being studied for re-ducing CO2 in the Lake District.

Those options range from offshore wind,tidal barrages and new nuclear power sta-tions, to geothermal energy using naturalheat sources from underground, and pro-posed carbon capture, using old gas reser-voirs in the Irish Sea to store carbon.

Mr Chapman, 64, is a one-time submarinenavigator, who worked as an undersea cablelayer for Vickers Oceanics, and then set uptwo successful companies, Sub Sea Surveys,and Rumic.

With a rare career symmetry he went fromalmost dying 1,575ft below the ocean trappedin a civilian mini submarine in 1973, to laterwinning the contract to manage the RoyalNavy’s Submarine Escape Service for a dec-ade and a half. It had a mini rescue sub and asurface operated susbsea robot on standby 24/7.

That was just one of the roles of his unusualfirm, Rumic Ltd of Dalton,which also oper-ated underwater robots at sea for civil work,and devised and ran nuclear robots that re-moved radioactive sludge at Windscale.

In 2002 Mr Chapman, whose dramatic res-cue with a colleague, was the deepest everrescue of humans from the seabed, sold Rumicto the Barrow-based James Fisher marineservices and specialist shipping group (wherehis Rumic staff achieved world fame savingseven Russian sailors trapped in a Priz smallsub at the bottom of the Pacific in 2004).

He now divides his time between his owninterests, which include running the RumicFoundation Trust working with disadvant-aged and disabled children, and being vicechairman of James Fisher Defence, whose

many roles includes supplying submarinerescue equipment and services to severalcountries including Australia.

Mr Chapman is not a climate changedoubter despite the recent freeze, and blamesthe county’s recent disastrous floods on cli-mate change aberrations.

The new home he and his wife June aremoving to close to their present one inBroughton will be ‘virtually carbon neutral’,heated geothermally by pipes penetrating twometres under the ground. It will also include amicro hydroelectric plant, generating electri-city from a stream that passes throughtheir land.

Now with another eye on theclimate issue, he is setting up anew company ENcount with hisson Sam Chapman to advisepeople and companies on effi-cient, low carbon use of energy,

Sam Chapmn is currently doinga Ph.D as a member of a grouphelping to advise the Scottish Par-liament on how to drive down thecost of energy and use it more effi-ciently with lower CO2 emissions.

Mr Chapman said: “Our objectiveis to get expert in accounting forthe cost of energy againstyour carbon output ,becauseeven if you have all theseenergy resources, thekey is to drive that costdown.”

He loves Fur-ness and itspeople andadmiresthecounty’sBritain’sEnergyCoast™pro-

T

PLANS: RogerChapman

from RumicFoundation

Trust

RESCUE: A computer-generatedimage shows a Russian mini rescuesubmarine, called a Priz, trapped on

the Pacific floor in 2005. RogerChapman was involved in the

rescue mission

Recruitment is biggest challengeHE industry maybe booming – butwhere are all theengineers?

Emma-Jayne Gooch,recruitment manager atenergy headhunting firmMcKenzie Douglas, dis-cusses the biggest chal-

lenge facing the nuclear industry.Nuclear is big news. It’s at the crux of

energy industry strategy, with a govern-ment commitment to creating 100,000 jobsin the nuclear sector. Worldwide, 436power reactors currently contribute 15per cent of the world’s energy and the paceof development is increasing. Over 40 newreactors are under construction, 106 are inplanning and 266 are being proposed. Thisis an industry in transformation.

Back in the 1950s, the UK was home to agolden period for the nuclear industry. Aworld-class engineering capability grewup here. However, concerns around safety,public scepticism and a lack of govern-ment will led to a reduction in investmentin the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The teaching of nuclear engineering inthe UK fell into decline. A focus on serviceindustries meant engineering, across theboard, became a less attractive option.

We now see a situation where only 40,000new engineers enter the workforce everyyear. Just 13 per cent of graduates leaveuniversity with science, technology,engineering or mathematics degrees.

So why is this ominous for the nuclearindustry? Between 2015 and 2025, the UKcould face a crucial skills shortage. If thathappens, the UK’s power supplies wouldbe less reliable and more expensive. That’sa problem we need to address urgently.

Statistics show we need 25 per cent ofgraduates to have relevant degrees to ser-vice the predicted growth in jobs in thenuclear industry. This problem is com-pounded by the ageing population of the

current workforce. By 2025, almost halfthe nuclear workforce in Cumbria willhave retired. So who will fill their shoes?

If the problem is of concern on a nationallevel, it’s crystallised in Cumbria. We havethe largest nuclear workforce in the UKand we lie at the heart of the industry, withapproximately 10,000 potential new jobsbeing created on our energy coast.

Mark Watters, nuclear director atDoosan Babcock, said: “The nuclear skillsshortage is a concern. Every year we havean intake of 70 apprentices and 50 to 60graduates. We encourage permanent re-cruitment, which attracts new people tosettle in West Cumbria.”

Andy Hooper, managing director atWestlakes Engineering, added: “Ourworkforce is young. We spend a lot of timeand effort on training people – we recentlywon an award from the CN Group for ourTraining and Development programme.

“We bring local people from other indus-tries into our business, and sponsor localstudents through university. We’re train-ing and working with a number of nuclearconsultants who can impart their know-ledge to the younger workforce.”

Mike Devine, UK operations resourcemanager, Project Time and Cost UK Ltd,said: “There is an ageing workforce andfew young people are entering the ranks.Environmentalists have found themselvesin a quandary; they now find alternativesources of generation cannot provide theelectricity required. Some have come tosupport the same nuclear industry theyprotested against in the 80s and 90s.

“We’ve established our own training sys-tem called PT&C University to help withcontinuing education for our employees.We provide reimbursement for universityand other training/degrees. We try to hire

as many young people as possible to bringthem up through the ranks.”

Some industry experts are more upbeat.Bill Harper, HR resource manager,

Sellafield, said: “The Sellafield workforcehas been built up over many years. We’vecontinued to bring in large numbers ofapprentices and graduates over the yearsto keep the workforce replenished. Theaverage age across Sellafield is 45, whichis quite healthy.

“It isn’t an accident that we have ahealthy skills pipeline in place. It’s beenthrough Sellafield constantly planning forthe future. Over the last few years, theNuclear Decommissioning Authority hasled with some tremendous skills invest-ments, such as Energus, which furtherstrengthens the position.

“My view is that the nuclear skills short-age needs to be kept in perspective. Fornuclear new build, the components will bebrought off the shelf, so there will not be abig need for nuclear specialists, but rathera larger number of more generally quali-fied engineers and scientists.”

His view is supported by Vince Cane,principal consultant at Nuclear Technolo-gies PLC: “You need to recognise the im-pact new nuclear build is going to have.The industry is going to be very attractive.All of this points to the fact a career innuclear is now a very attractive proposi-tion – we just need to get the message intoschools, colleges and universities!”

Evan Wright, industry specialist, ad-viser to McKenzie Douglas and director ofSilver Stream Business Services and En-ergy Coast Consulting, said: “For currentUK operations, decommissioning andpower generation, there are sufficientskilled people to meet the need, althoughthe age profile is quite high. But we are indanger of losing some of what we alreadyhave if funding constrains the programs.

“For nuclear new build, there will be ahigh demand for project leaders, construc-

tion managers, back room support func-tions and experienced engineers. Theskills don’t necessarily all need to benuclear based and good people could bebrought in from a number of sectors.

“Currently we have enough people butwe must continue to recruit and trainyoung people. New build will stretch usbut, to build new nuclear power stations,it’s not essential that all the resource isnuclear experienced.”

At McKenzie Douglas, we believe thenuclear industry is buoyant, especially inCumbria. With three new builds on thehorizon and an agreement with the Na-tional Grid to have 10GW of power comingout of Cumbria by 2025, there has neverbeen such an exciting time to be involved.

There is much talk around the import-ance of encouraging Cumbria’s youth toget involved with the nuclear industrythrough courses and apprenticeships.

To some extent, there is going to be ashortage of fully skilled nuclear engineersand specialists between 2015–2025. Thereare young people in training, but they willnot be ready in that timeframe.

It’s absolutely essential to plan ahead.Companies need to identify the keypositions they need to fill to maximise thepotential opportunities in the pipeline –and sooner rather than later.

We’d also advise companies to look atpeople from different but comparable sec-tors such as oil and gas and pharmaceutic-als and then train them. Think morestrategically about recruitment options.

And if you’re thinking about moving intothe industry? You need no more encour-agement than these words from Mike Dev-ine from Project Time and Cost.

“I think that any young person that isinterested in writing their own ticket forthe future should start nuclear engineer-ing and physics training now. They couldname their salary and get it.”

RECRUITMENTT

gramme. He said: “I think the main points aremaking Cumbria’s coast an example of a newapproach to energy supply.

“It would encompass not just economicgrowth, but also provide an example of energysecurity to a region while meeting interna-tional restrictions on greenhouse gas emis-sions or even bettering them through thedevelopment of holistic carbon accountingmeasures throughout the projects’ spans.”

Speaking at his business and charityheadquarters in The Gill, Ulverston, which isheated from underground pipes, he said:“Cumbria could be world-leaders in provingthat greenhouse gas mitigation can work sideby side with the business case of traditionalmarket and economic growth

“It would be a large-scale, industrial ex-ample to other regions and countries.

“If lessons are learnt first in somewherelike Cumbria, that has a workforce

learned in engineering and energysupply, the expertise could be asvaluable as the projects them-selves.”

Referring to the November floods,he said: “Cumbria has been hardesthit of all UK counties in recenttimes by an ever changing climate,

would it not be fitting that thecounty reacted in a positive

manner and acceptedthe challenge of re-

ducing their de-pendence onfuels that areset to increasein price whilethey dimin-ish, and areseen to manyas the maincontributorto globalclimatechange.”

15

CUMBRIA’S renewable energy options,from offshore wind to biomass (wood

burning) and tidal, but excludingnuclear, could end up generatingbetween 3.2 and 5.4 gigawatts ofpower by 2050 and be employing

between 4,262 and 7,550 people. Thatis according to a report The Scope for

Renewable Energy in Cumbria

Solar power could still be asource of 40 megawatts to 100megawatts of power in the countyand create between 528 jobs to 1,320jobs. A study of renewable energypotential in the county says solarpower could be generating 20megawatts and be employing 594people in the county within 10 years

HYDRO electric power schemes inCumbria could be expanded to

create six megawatts of electricpower in 10 years time when it

could be employing 270 people. Atpresent there are 15 operational

plants in Cumbria

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

WATT’S THE DEAL

Roger’s mission

14

LOW CARBONby JOHN SIMPSON

We canplay apivotal

roleCUMBRIA is primed toplay a pivotal role inBritain’s nuclearrenaissance as part ofthe government’s newLow Carbon EconomicArea for Nuclear.

The Department for Busi-ness, Innovation and Skillsannounced that the NorthWest and Yorkshire have be-come Britain’s Low CarbonEconomic Area for nuclear.

LCEA status is not onlyrecognition of the nuclearindustry’s unique assetsand capabilities in the re-gion, but also reflects thegovernment’s desire for thenominated geographicalhub to play an importantleadership and coordina-tion role to accelerate nucle-ar developments across thewhole of Britain.

West Cumbria is the coun-try’s most important loca-tion for advanced nuclearengineering, fuel repro-cessing and decommission-ing.

It is home to Sellafield; Bri-tain’s only Low Level WasteRepository; the NationalNuclear Laboratory and Na-tional Skills Academy forNuclear, based at Energus inWorkington; and the Uni-versity of Central Lan-cashire’s recently revampedcampus UCLan@Westlakesbased at Westlakes Scienceand Technology Park,which is one of the mostimportant clusters of nucle-ar-related businesses inEurope.

These sites will bebolstered by the Universityof Manchester’s £20m teach-ing and education centre,the Dalton Cumbria Facil-ity.

Cumbria also has three ofthe 10 sites proposed for newnuclear power stations,with public sector partnersbehind the Britain’s EnergyCoast™ initiative leadingthe nomination of a site ad-jacent to Sellafield.

All three sites are cur-rently going throughthe first stage of apublic consultation.

LOW CARBON

HESE are good times forRoger Chapman. Morethan a decade ago he sug-gested that Cumbria, orat least Barrow, shouldspearhead an experi-ment in the use of elec-tric vehicles to improve

the environment.He wasn’t taken too seriously at the time,

but now electric vehicles are one of a basket ofclimate change options being studied for re-ducing CO2 in the Lake District.

Those options range from offshore wind,tidal barrages and new nuclear power sta-tions, to geothermal energy using naturalheat sources from underground, and pro-posed carbon capture, using old gas reser-voirs in the Irish Sea to store carbon.

Mr Chapman, 64, is a one-time submarinenavigator, who worked as an undersea cablelayer for Vickers Oceanics, and then set uptwo successful companies, Sub Sea Surveys,and Rumic.

With a rare career symmetry he went fromalmost dying 1,575ft below the ocean trappedin a civilian mini submarine in 1973, to laterwinning the contract to manage the RoyalNavy’s Submarine Escape Service for a dec-ade and a half. It had a mini rescue sub and asurface operated susbsea robot on standby 24/7.

That was just one of the roles of his unusualfirm, Rumic Ltd of Dalton,which also oper-ated underwater robots at sea for civil work,and devised and ran nuclear robots that re-moved radioactive sludge at Windscale.

In 2002 Mr Chapman, whose dramatic res-cue with a colleague, was the deepest everrescue of humans from the seabed, sold Rumicto the Barrow-based James Fisher marineservices and specialist shipping group (wherehis Rumic staff achieved world fame savingseven Russian sailors trapped in a Priz smallsub at the bottom of the Pacific in 2004).

He now divides his time between his owninterests, which include running the RumicFoundation Trust working with disadvant-aged and disabled children, and being vicechairman of James Fisher Defence, whose

many roles includes supplying submarinerescue equipment and services to severalcountries including Australia.

Mr Chapman is not a climate changedoubter despite the recent freeze, and blamesthe county’s recent disastrous floods on cli-mate change aberrations.

The new home he and his wife June aremoving to close to their present one inBroughton will be ‘virtually carbon neutral’,heated geothermally by pipes penetrating twometres under the ground. It will also include amicro hydroelectric plant, generating electri-city from a stream that passes throughtheir land.

Now with another eye on theclimate issue, he is setting up anew company ENcount with hisson Sam Chapman to advisepeople and companies on effi-cient, low carbon use of energy,

Sam Chapmn is currently doinga Ph.D as a member of a grouphelping to advise the Scottish Par-liament on how to drive down thecost of energy and use it more effi-ciently with lower CO2 emissions.

Mr Chapman said: “Our objectiveis to get expert in accounting forthe cost of energy againstyour carbon output ,becauseeven if you have all theseenergy resources, thekey is to drive that costdown.”

He loves Fur-ness and itspeople andadmiresthecounty’sBritain’sEnergyCoast™pro-

T

PLANS: RogerChapman

from RumicFoundation

Trust

RESCUE: A computer-generatedimage shows a Russian mini rescuesubmarine, called a Priz, trapped on

the Pacific floor in 2005. RogerChapman was involved in the

rescue mission

Recruitment is biggest challengeHE industry maybe booming – butwhere are all theengineers?

Emma-Jayne Gooch,recruitment manager atenergy headhunting firmMcKenzie Douglas, dis-cusses the biggest chal-

lenge facing the nuclear industry.Nuclear is big news. It’s at the crux of

energy industry strategy, with a govern-ment commitment to creating 100,000 jobsin the nuclear sector. Worldwide, 436power reactors currently contribute 15per cent of the world’s energy and the paceof development is increasing. Over 40 newreactors are under construction, 106 are inplanning and 266 are being proposed. Thisis an industry in transformation.

Back in the 1950s, the UK was home to agolden period for the nuclear industry. Aworld-class engineering capability grewup here. However, concerns around safety,public scepticism and a lack of govern-ment will led to a reduction in investmentin the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The teaching of nuclear engineering inthe UK fell into decline. A focus on serviceindustries meant engineering, across theboard, became a less attractive option.

We now see a situation where only 40,000new engineers enter the workforce everyyear. Just 13 per cent of graduates leaveuniversity with science, technology,engineering or mathematics degrees.

So why is this ominous for the nuclearindustry? Between 2015 and 2025, the UKcould face a crucial skills shortage. If thathappens, the UK’s power supplies wouldbe less reliable and more expensive. That’sa problem we need to address urgently.

Statistics show we need 25 per cent ofgraduates to have relevant degrees to ser-vice the predicted growth in jobs in thenuclear industry. This problem is com-pounded by the ageing population of the

current workforce. By 2025, almost halfthe nuclear workforce in Cumbria willhave retired. So who will fill their shoes?

If the problem is of concern on a nationallevel, it’s crystallised in Cumbria. We havethe largest nuclear workforce in the UKand we lie at the heart of the industry, withapproximately 10,000 potential new jobsbeing created on our energy coast.

Mark Watters, nuclear director atDoosan Babcock, said: “The nuclear skillsshortage is a concern. Every year we havean intake of 70 apprentices and 50 to 60graduates. We encourage permanent re-cruitment, which attracts new people tosettle in West Cumbria.”

Andy Hooper, managing director atWestlakes Engineering, added: “Ourworkforce is young. We spend a lot of timeand effort on training people – we recentlywon an award from the CN Group for ourTraining and Development programme.

“We bring local people from other indus-tries into our business, and sponsor localstudents through university. We’re train-ing and working with a number of nuclearconsultants who can impart their know-ledge to the younger workforce.”

Mike Devine, UK operations resourcemanager, Project Time and Cost UK Ltd,said: “There is an ageing workforce andfew young people are entering the ranks.Environmentalists have found themselvesin a quandary; they now find alternativesources of generation cannot provide theelectricity required. Some have come tosupport the same nuclear industry theyprotested against in the 80s and 90s.

“We’ve established our own training sys-tem called PT&C University to help withcontinuing education for our employees.We provide reimbursement for universityand other training/degrees. We try to hire

as many young people as possible to bringthem up through the ranks.”

Some industry experts are more upbeat.Bill Harper, HR resource manager,

Sellafield, said: “The Sellafield workforcehas been built up over many years. We’vecontinued to bring in large numbers ofapprentices and graduates over the yearsto keep the workforce replenished. Theaverage age across Sellafield is 45, whichis quite healthy.

“It isn’t an accident that we have ahealthy skills pipeline in place. It’s beenthrough Sellafield constantly planning forthe future. Over the last few years, theNuclear Decommissioning Authority hasled with some tremendous skills invest-ments, such as Energus, which furtherstrengthens the position.

“My view is that the nuclear skills short-age needs to be kept in perspective. Fornuclear new build, the components will bebrought off the shelf, so there will not be abig need for nuclear specialists, but rathera larger number of more generally quali-fied engineers and scientists.”

His view is supported by Vince Cane,principal consultant at Nuclear Technolo-gies PLC: “You need to recognise the im-pact new nuclear build is going to have.The industry is going to be very attractive.All of this points to the fact a career innuclear is now a very attractive proposi-tion – we just need to get the message intoschools, colleges and universities!”

Evan Wright, industry specialist, ad-viser to McKenzie Douglas and director ofSilver Stream Business Services and En-ergy Coast Consulting, said: “For currentUK operations, decommissioning andpower generation, there are sufficientskilled people to meet the need, althoughthe age profile is quite high. But we are indanger of losing some of what we alreadyhave if funding constrains the programs.

“For nuclear new build, there will be ahigh demand for project leaders, construc-

tion managers, back room support func-tions and experienced engineers. Theskills don’t necessarily all need to benuclear based and good people could bebrought in from a number of sectors.

“Currently we have enough people butwe must continue to recruit and trainyoung people. New build will stretch usbut, to build new nuclear power stations,it’s not essential that all the resource isnuclear experienced.”

At McKenzie Douglas, we believe thenuclear industry is buoyant, especially inCumbria. With three new builds on thehorizon and an agreement with the Na-tional Grid to have 10GW of power comingout of Cumbria by 2025, there has neverbeen such an exciting time to be involved.

There is much talk around the import-ance of encouraging Cumbria’s youth toget involved with the nuclear industrythrough courses and apprenticeships.

To some extent, there is going to be ashortage of fully skilled nuclear engineersand specialists between 2015–2025. Thereare young people in training, but they willnot be ready in that timeframe.

It’s absolutely essential to plan ahead.Companies need to identify the keypositions they need to fill to maximise thepotential opportunities in the pipeline –and sooner rather than later.

We’d also advise companies to look atpeople from different but comparable sec-tors such as oil and gas and pharmaceutic-als and then train them. Think morestrategically about recruitment options.

And if you’re thinking about moving intothe industry? You need no more encour-agement than these words from Mike Dev-ine from Project Time and Cost.

“I think that any young person that isinterested in writing their own ticket forthe future should start nuclear engineer-ing and physics training now. They couldname their salary and get it.”

RECRUITMENTT

16

Milestone for Sellafield as waste sails away

AT present there are 15operational hydro electric power

plants in Cumbria, includinginstallations at Coniston,

Backbarrow, Glenridding andLodore generating 2.4MW –enough to meet the average

electricity needs of about4,500 households

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

A £1M dredging operationto clear up the debris andwaste left in the Port of

Workington by theNovember floods has

proven a success, with theport restored to full

working orderahead of schedule

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

COAL seams under the Solway Firthare to be examined by Clean

Coal Ltd in an operation whichcould lead to a multi-million

pound investment in the region.Drilling will begin this year and will

take between 12 and 18 months

STUDIES haveidentified around 400weirs and 70 dams

which could beharnessed for

small-scale hydroschemes in the county.

(Cumbria Vision)

MIKE McMULLEN, 49,Facility Manager for

Sudsvik Metal Recycling

11

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

WESTERN LAKES: Yewbarrow, GreatGable, Lingmell and the Scafell rangewith Wastwater in the foreground

I love working on Britain’s Energy Coast™because...

With over 20 years in the nuclear industry it iseasy for me to feel part of the important role itplays at local and national level. But also to bepart of the continuing evolution of the industri-al heritage that has moved from traditionalindustries such as mining and steel to wherewe are today.

Describe your commute to work...My commute to work is a nice simple 10

minute drive on my own, usually at quiet timesof the morning with little traffic to botherabout. I catch up on the day’s early news onBBC Radio Cumbria and spend the timethinking about the challenges that lie ahead.

What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...Cumbria is steeped in history and heritage

and has such a diverse mixture of culture andthings to do and see that it caters for allinterests. The localtourism organisationsdo a magnificent jobin promoting thisacross the world

When I am notworking my perfectday in Cumbria is...

Relaxing at home orin the garden

My favourite placein the whole ofCumbria is...

The countryside and villages on theapproach to the western lakes that are sotypical of the area and still harbour a lot ofchildhood memories.

My favourite outdoor pursuit is...After retiring from playing football a few

years ago I don’t know how I ever found thetime to play twice in a weekend as I seem tohave very little time for outdoor pursuitsduring what spare time I have these days.

My favourite three-course Cumbrianmeal is...

Garlic mushrooms followed by a goodmixed grill made from local produce with icecream to finish.

My favourite drink is...It might surprise a lot of people who know

me but water is my favourite drink with a niceice cold lager a close second. However, a wellknown alcoholic ginger beer served ice cold iscertainly a refreshing taste to die for.

My favourite place to eat out is...My garden on a hot summer’s day among

family and friends, with me cooking thebarbecue.

If someone from abroad had never beento Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be...

It has so much to offer from its natural beautyto the warm and friendly people who are proudof their area and who welcome and supportnew arrivals.

17

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

FAVE: Mushrooms

NUCLEAR ship left Bar-row on January 22 forJapan on an historicvoyage which might haila bright new era forSellafield.

Nuclear bosses, unions andcommunity leaders are hopingthe first ever shipment of

highly radioactive waste overseas from Sellafieldwill eventually lead to new business and moreemployment security.

They also say that the “historic milestone” finallynails claims that Sellafield was becoming theworld’s nuclear dustbin and should not be allowedto carry on producing more waste fromreprocessing.

Relationships with Japan who refused to do anymore business with BNFL and Sellafield after theMox fuel scandal several years are now said to havebeen healed with much trust and confidencerestored.

The Pacific Sandpiper powered out of Barrowunder tight security – but unlike for the Mox fuelshipments the vessel is not armed.

Double hull security barriers and safety featuresare considered robust enough to protect the “hot”cargo from the potential risk of terrorism attack orhi-jack through territorial waters.

The Sandpiper is carrying cannisters of “hot”

waste which have been converted into glass blocksin the Sellafield vitrification plant.

The waste is from Japanese spent fuel reprocessedat Sellafield and is finally being sent back underinter-government deals struck in 1976.

It has taken more than 30 years but the success ofthe vitrification process at Sellafield, enabling theliquid waste to be converted into glass blocks, hasmade possible what is said to be a huge milestone inthe history of both Sellafield and the nuclearindustry.

It may also lead to a breakthrough in the fight fornew reprocessing business on the site.

Some 1,850 cannisters of vitrified waste will bereturned overseas over the next 10 years to Japan,Holland, Switzerland, Germany and Italy.

On why the returns had taken so long, one ofSellafield’s American executives, Mike Johnson,said: “We are dealing with high active waste whichtakes a great deal of care so we’ve taken our time tomake sure all the waste issues were handledproperly. Also our overseas customers have made anumber of requests for modifications about the waywe sent the waste back so it is done to theirspecifications.”

Japan along with the European customers arefooting the costly bill for the return shipments.

Says Mr Johnson: “We are demonstrating we arekeeping a promise we made both to West Cumbriaand the UK that we would return this waste back tothe owners of the spent fuel Sellafield reprocessedfor them. It is also a demonstration of the ability ofour workforce to do the things they said they’d doand do them safely and efficiently.”

Asked whether it strengthened the case for futurereprocessing Mr Johnson said: “That would be agovernment decision, but certainly the demonstra-tion of the ability of our workforce to deliver some ofthese challenging assignments must contributepositively to the conversations about new nuclearfuel reprocessing.

“NMP (Sellafield’s new parent body organisation)would probably support the case. We would alsocontribute our record of safe operation.

“We have a workforce that has demonstratedexpertise.That expertise should be available to beused as best it can be.”

On the Japanese relationship, Mike Johnsonpointed out: “The quality and attributes of thisshipment have been vetted both by ourselves, ourcustomers, and the regulators.

International Nuclear Transport representativeRupert Wilcox-Baker said: “Sellafield in raising thequality of its product and workforce has workedextraordinarily hard to improve that relationshipwith Japan.

“This shipment is a very strong signal ofconfidence.”

Egremont man Jock Brocklebank, who heads upthe vitrified waste returns operation at Sellafieldwhere he has worked since leaving school, said:“Sellafield Ltd did its own inspections on thesecannisters. They passed.

“Then we invited the Japanese customers acrossto witness us carrying out further tests and theypassed again.

“All this built a good relationship. We know andthe Japanese side know we have met the specifica-tions, the trust is back.

“To reach this milestone is a very proud momentboth for me personally, the company and the peopleinvolved, the majority of them local I also thinkpeople generally will see those claims of the nucleardustbin being in West Cumbria are no more, wehave dispelled the myth.

“It should give added confidence to our area, wehave the skills to take on whatever comes our way inthe nuclear business.”

NDA executive John Clarke, former Sellafieldhead of safer, said: “I was in Japan last week withindustry and government representatives and it isclear that relationships are very positive andrestored but you are only as good as your lastaction.”

The first shipment is due to reach Japan duringMarch.

A NUCLEAR WASTEby ALAN IRVING

“We have the skillsto take on whatevercomes our way in thenuclear business”

PICTURES byJOE RILEY

MOVING: Work-ers and securitywatch the flaskbeing loaded atRamsden Dock,Barrow

GREEN GIANT:A huge crane is usedto load the flask ontothe Pacific Sandpiper

RADIOACTIVEWASTE: The

flask islowered onto

the boat inBarrow docks

Work is to start on Cumbria’s third big coastalwind farm in the Spring. Dong Energy of

Denmark is developing its £1bn Walney WindFarm eight miles off Barrow and the port will

play a major role. Dong’s Walney site will have102 turbines with work starting on 51 towers and

turbines this year and another 51 next year

16

Milestone for Sellafield as waste sails away

AT present there are 15operational hydro electric power

plants in Cumbria, includinginstallations at Coniston,

Backbarrow, Glenridding andLodore generating 2.4MW –enough to meet the average

electricity needs of about4,500 households

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

A £1M dredging operationto clear up the debris andwaste left in the Port of

Workington by theNovember floods has

proven a success, with theport restored to full

working orderahead of schedule

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

COAL seams under the Solway Firthare to be examined by Clean

Coal Ltd in an operation whichcould lead to a multi-million

pound investment in the region.Drilling will begin this year and will

take between 12 and 18 months

STUDIES haveidentified around 400weirs and 70 dams

which could beharnessed for

small-scale hydroschemes in the county.

(Cumbria Vision)

MIKE McMULLEN, 49,Facility Manager for

Sudsvik Metal Recycling

11

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

WESTERN LAKES: Yewbarrow, GreatGable, Lingmell and the Scafell rangewith Wastwater in the foreground

I love working on Britain’s Energy Coast™because...

With over 20 years in the nuclear industry it iseasy for me to feel part of the important role itplays at local and national level. But also to bepart of the continuing evolution of the industri-al heritage that has moved from traditionalindustries such as mining and steel to wherewe are today.

Describe your commute to work...My commute to work is a nice simple 10

minute drive on my own, usually at quiet timesof the morning with little traffic to botherabout. I catch up on the day’s early news onBBC Radio Cumbria and spend the timethinking about the challenges that lie ahead.

What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...Cumbria is steeped in history and heritage

and has such a diverse mixture of culture andthings to do and see that it caters for allinterests. The localtourism organisationsdo a magnificent jobin promoting thisacross the world

When I am notworking my perfectday in Cumbria is...

Relaxing at home orin the garden

My favourite placein the whole ofCumbria is...

The countryside and villages on theapproach to the western lakes that are sotypical of the area and still harbour a lot ofchildhood memories.

My favourite outdoor pursuit is...After retiring from playing football a few

years ago I don’t know how I ever found thetime to play twice in a weekend as I seem tohave very little time for outdoor pursuitsduring what spare time I have these days.

My favourite three-course Cumbrianmeal is...

Garlic mushrooms followed by a goodmixed grill made from local produce with icecream to finish.

My favourite drink is...It might surprise a lot of people who know

me but water is my favourite drink with a niceice cold lager a close second. However, a wellknown alcoholic ginger beer served ice cold iscertainly a refreshing taste to die for.

My favourite place to eat out is...My garden on a hot summer’s day among

family and friends, with me cooking thebarbecue.

If someone from abroad had never beento Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be...

It has so much to offer from its natural beautyto the warm and friendly people who are proudof their area and who welcome and supportnew arrivals.

17

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

FAVE: Mushrooms

NUCLEAR ship left Bar-row on January 22 forJapan on an historicvoyage which might haila bright new era forSellafield.

Nuclear bosses, unions andcommunity leaders are hopingthe first ever shipment of

highly radioactive waste overseas from Sellafieldwill eventually lead to new business and moreemployment security.

They also say that the “historic milestone” finallynails claims that Sellafield was becoming theworld’s nuclear dustbin and should not be allowedto carry on producing more waste fromreprocessing.

Relationships with Japan who refused to do anymore business with BNFL and Sellafield after theMox fuel scandal several years are now said to havebeen healed with much trust and confidencerestored.

The Pacific Sandpiper powered out of Barrowunder tight security – but unlike for the Mox fuelshipments the vessel is not armed.

Double hull security barriers and safety featuresare considered robust enough to protect the “hot”cargo from the potential risk of terrorism attack orhi-jack through territorial waters.

The Sandpiper is carrying cannisters of “hot”

waste which have been converted into glass blocksin the Sellafield vitrification plant.

The waste is from Japanese spent fuel reprocessedat Sellafield and is finally being sent back underinter-government deals struck in 1976.

It has taken more than 30 years but the success ofthe vitrification process at Sellafield, enabling theliquid waste to be converted into glass blocks, hasmade possible what is said to be a huge milestone inthe history of both Sellafield and the nuclearindustry.

It may also lead to a breakthrough in the fight fornew reprocessing business on the site.

Some 1,850 cannisters of vitrified waste will bereturned overseas over the next 10 years to Japan,Holland, Switzerland, Germany and Italy.

On why the returns had taken so long, one ofSellafield’s American executives, Mike Johnson,said: “We are dealing with high active waste whichtakes a great deal of care so we’ve taken our time tomake sure all the waste issues were handledproperly. Also our overseas customers have made anumber of requests for modifications about the waywe sent the waste back so it is done to theirspecifications.”

Japan along with the European customers arefooting the costly bill for the return shipments.

Says Mr Johnson: “We are demonstrating we arekeeping a promise we made both to West Cumbriaand the UK that we would return this waste back tothe owners of the spent fuel Sellafield reprocessedfor them. It is also a demonstration of the ability ofour workforce to do the things they said they’d doand do them safely and efficiently.”

Asked whether it strengthened the case for futurereprocessing Mr Johnson said: “That would be agovernment decision, but certainly the demonstra-tion of the ability of our workforce to deliver some ofthese challenging assignments must contributepositively to the conversations about new nuclearfuel reprocessing.

“NMP (Sellafield’s new parent body organisation)would probably support the case. We would alsocontribute our record of safe operation.

“We have a workforce that has demonstratedexpertise.That expertise should be available to beused as best it can be.”

On the Japanese relationship, Mike Johnsonpointed out: “The quality and attributes of thisshipment have been vetted both by ourselves, ourcustomers, and the regulators.

International Nuclear Transport representativeRupert Wilcox-Baker said: “Sellafield in raising thequality of its product and workforce has workedextraordinarily hard to improve that relationshipwith Japan.

“This shipment is a very strong signal ofconfidence.”

Egremont man Jock Brocklebank, who heads upthe vitrified waste returns operation at Sellafieldwhere he has worked since leaving school, said:“Sellafield Ltd did its own inspections on thesecannisters. They passed.

“Then we invited the Japanese customers acrossto witness us carrying out further tests and theypassed again.

“All this built a good relationship. We know andthe Japanese side know we have met the specifica-tions, the trust is back.

“To reach this milestone is a very proud momentboth for me personally, the company and the peopleinvolved, the majority of them local I also thinkpeople generally will see those claims of the nucleardustbin being in West Cumbria are no more, wehave dispelled the myth.

“It should give added confidence to our area, wehave the skills to take on whatever comes our way inthe nuclear business.”

NDA executive John Clarke, former Sellafieldhead of safer, said: “I was in Japan last week withindustry and government representatives and it isclear that relationships are very positive andrestored but you are only as good as your lastaction.”

The first shipment is due to reach Japan duringMarch.

A NUCLEAR WASTEby ALAN IRVING

“We have the skillsto take on whatevercomes our way in thenuclear business”

PICTURES byJOE RILEY

MOVING: Work-ers and securitywatch the flaskbeing loaded atRamsden Dock,Barrow

GREEN GIANT:A huge crane is usedto load the flask ontothe Pacific Sandpiper

RADIOACTIVEWASTE: The

flask islowered onto

the boat inBarrow docks

Work is to start on Cumbria’s third big coastalwind farm in the Spring. Dong Energy of

Denmark is developing its £1bn Walney WindFarm eight miles off Barrow and the port will

play a major role. Dong’s Walney site will have102 turbines with work starting on 51 towers and

turbines this year and another 51 next year

19

DIANE ARMSTRONG, 39Performance Manager,Barrow Office of West

Lakes Renaissance

WILD SEAS: Windsurfers skip along thewaves at the Point of Comfort Scar

I love working on Britain's Energy Coast™because...... of the potential for real change.

Describe your commute to work... It takesabout 20 minutes along the A5087, with viewsof Morecambe Bay and Piel Island to the leftand the Lakeland fells to the right.

What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...Damsons.

When I am notworking my perfectday in Cumbria is...

Going for a long walkalong the beach atRoanhead when thetide is in, accompan-ied by my husband,daughter and my twoIrish setters.

My favourite placein the whole of Cum-bria is...

The beach at Com-fort Scar on More-cambe Bay. The sunrises and sunsets over acalm tide are breathtaking, then again so arethe wild seas . . . and I see them all from mywindow!

My favourite outdoor pursuit is...Eating out!My favourite three-course Cumbrian

meal is...Poached Pears at

Hartley’s in Daltonfollowed by SaltedSea Bass at the

Stagger Inn,Stainton, and tofinish a vanillacrème brulee.

My favour-ite drinkis...A lovely

cuppa.My favourite

place to eat out is...During the day it would have to be the

Bosun’s Locker on Roa Island, and for even-ing meals, Hartleys in Dalton

If someone from abroad had never beento Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be...

The hills . . . and from the top of them, theviews!

FAVOURITE:Bosun’s LockerCafe, Roa Island

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

AAAHH: Cup of tea

New dawn for Sellafield

IN THE HOT SEAT: Graham Campbell,General Manager of NMP, has a great vision for the future of Sellafield

BRIGHTFUTURE:Sellafield

SELLAFIELD MD BILL POULSON – PAGE 31 >>

BIG INTERVIEWGRAHAM Campbell, GeneralManager of NuclearManagement Partners, talksto ALAN IRVING

JUST over 12 months ago, Sel-lafield passed into the hands ofNuclear Management Partners, aconsortium of American, Frenchand British companies.

The deal was said to be on the samefinancial scale as the 2012 LondonOlympics, with the potential to have amassive impact on both Sellafield’s opera-tions and on West Cumbria’s economy forthe next 50 years.

Nuclear Management Partners werehanded the reins in November 2008, fivemonths after the consortium won the bidto land a lucrative contract from the Nuc-lear Decommissioning Authority.

It is worth around £1.3bn a year (but witha potential bonus of up to £50m a year,depending on results).

Competition was fierce: NMP (URSWashington, Ariva and Amec) was upagainst four other powerful global bid-ders.

Only four people were privy to theidentity of the winning bidder – theywere sworn to secrecy until the an-nouncement at 10am on Friday July 11,2008.

First to hear the news (on behalf ofNMP) was Graham Campbell. By all ac-counts, the then general manager of URSWashington, the consortium’s Americanarm who holds a similar position forNMP in Cumbria, was told even beforethe Prime Minister.

“I am told (reliably) I was the firstperson to be told in our organisation. Itwas a very important, exciting and tensemoment,” says Graham.

The stakes were high. “That morning,”says the affable Mancunian, “I was alonein my office (at Ingwell Hall, Westlakes);the rest of the team, 30-odd people, werein the training room down the cor-ridor, out of the way.

“I was able to tell ourchairman Tom Zargesand managing directorBob Peddie immedi-ately – they werealso quietly out of

the way in a corner!What we did next was walk down thecorridor with a long face purposely.

“Everyone shouted ‘what’s happened?’fearing from our looks that we’d lost out . .. I just raised an arm saying ‘we’vewon’.

“It was crazy, there was such a tremend-ous relief, not just at winning the job butall the efforts that had been put in. Peoplehad moved countries, dislocated theirfamilies to work night and day on thebid.

“To say everyone was on tenterhookswas an understatement. To hear they’dlost was obviously difficult for our com-petitors, all good-quality companies we’dworked with in the United States. It wouldhave been the same for us.”

Graham Campbell, drawing on decadesof business experience all over the world,turned all his attentions to the “SellafieldProject” from day one, lasting over threeyears.

He reflects: “It was an amazing exercise.In order to meet the challenge we broughtthree major companies in from across theworld.”

An irresistible combination? “Well, ob-viously, that was the way the client (NDA)finally determined it.”

One of the key factors was what NMPpromised but moreover assured the NDAit could deliver for the West Cumbrian

community.

“I spent quite a lot time getting to knowthe local people,” Graham pointed out.“Part of the bid was socio-economics; itwas important we understood exactly howthe various stakeholders reacted to thecompetition process, what they were look-ing for and expected.

“What we brought to the table was aunique mix of skills in operations, decom-missioning, project management and thelocal knowledge – our UK, French, Amer-ican mix pretty well met the require-ments.”

How does he find it working not just forone but three masters? “Being in from thestart helped giving me the benefit of work-ing with the different cultures and thedifferent ways of doing things. I could alsodraw on a lot of my own experience indifferent organisations and joint venturesin various parts of the world.”

So what exactly is his role? “My task isessentially to ensure that the require-ments of the board are discharged in thearea. We are very clear on what those are:working with the NDA, the site licencecompany (Sellafield Ltd) and all the stake-holders in the region – I make sure wehave the resources, the plans and theactivities.

“If I don’t ensure that then people willask why?

“Quite clearly NMP is here to deliver theNDA’s Sellafield mission of clean-up anddecommissioning being done in a man-aged fashion focussed on high hazardreduction, primarily flowing through alifetime plan.”

Saving money? “I wouldn’t say savingmoney is the key, more a case of acting

effectively and efficiently, deliveringvalue for money. A big part of our bid wasto demonstrate we could do it.”

And earning a £50m dividend? “We havefee mechanisms in place with the NDAbased purely on measured, deliverablevalue.

“It’s an initial five-year contract and forthis year we have performance-based in-centives in place, all very clearly identi-fied up front with the NDA. Right now I’dsay we’ve delivered on all the agreedincentives and are quite happy we’re go-ing to achieve what we set out toachieve.”

How important is the stakeholder in-volvement? “Total. I spent a lot of timefrom 2006, with others, understanding thestakeholder community needs, the socio-economic issues, so if we won the contractwe’d have a running start, how we couldwork with people to make that side ofthings effective and give a real commit-ment to the community.

“Being a Northern lad, born inManchester, I knew Cumbria pretty well,one of the first drivers to go overHardknott Pass (in a Morris 10) and I canhonestly saw I’ve learned more eachweek.

“The culture up here is very specific. Iam aware of it, learning and listening.When somebody calls me a marra I’llbe very pleased indeed.

“I respect the needs of the communityup here. I get at least one stakeholdereither in the office or talking to me onthe phone every single day about spe-cific issues – it’s important to under-stand how everything links up and forme to make sense of it.

“BNFL and Sellafield, in the old days,were very much the mainstay of thecommunity. NMP is going to build onit, hopefully try to improve in particu-lar ways, maybe do different types ofsupport activities.

“We made an absolute commitment(in our bid) towards community sup-port: this was on the table before we

were awarded the contract, we took it tothe top of the priority list. Since thenwe’ve put £20 million directly on the lineover five years and on top of it is another£500,000 per year managed through theCumbria Community Fund.

“We’ve got the bigger funds looking atthe bigger projects, but the £500,000 is justas important, helping folks on the groundproviding the community with the pro-jects it wants without us telling them.

“Part of my job is to make sure thosefunds are managed properly.

“As the West Cumbria flood disasterbegan to take its toll, NMP was among thefirst to come to West Cumbria’s aid finan-cially by contributing £50,000 to the Recov-ery Fund.

“I was sat with the NMP board at Sel-lafield (on November 19) watching theweather getting worse by the minute.

“The site staff were released progress-ively over the afternoon and the followingmorning I spoke to Tony Cunningham andsaid NMP would like to open a fund.

“We thought what we put in was bothsignificant and important in setting somesort of a marker. It’s satisfying to know aswe speak that the fund has passed wellover the £1m mark.

“It’s unbelievable and so impressive theway everybody pulled round, and theamount of contributions in such a shortspace of time was remarkable. Everybodymucked in – great to see, but there’s still alot of work to do out there.”

Could he do his job without this com-munity support? “Absolutely not. That’swhy it’s a two-way street between the siteand the community.

“At Sellafield, I am not directly respons-ible for operations –- that’s Bill Poulsonand his team – but I work with them on adaily basis.

“Am I satisfied with the way things havegone over the first 12 months? Yes, abso-lutely, what we have done is preciselywhat we said we were going to do – andmore, because we brought on to the site alot more additional capability to try andmove the thing forward a bit faster.

“One of my tasks is to ensure the sitehas the necessary resources to deliver theoperations in the wider sense, that thethree big consortium companies areaware of the needs and we call on the bestavailable folk in the organisation.

“At this point we’ve got around anadditional 75 people on the site, we call itreach-back resources so we can startmaking the improvements that the other(PASE) teams identified.

“The Sellafield workforce have all thecapabilities and professionalism weneed: what we’re trying to do is make itbuild on it, work in better and differentways, bringing in some newtechnologies to supportthe workforce.

“We will have done a

good job when we demonstrate we havedelivered everything – you can measurethat.”

Where does he want Sellafield to be infive years’ time? “What we are aiming foris to deliver six years’ work in five – six forfive. A lot of thought, planning has goneinto that thinking. We’re going to deliver20 per cent more work for a five-yearprogramme, that’s the bottom line.

“We want folk out there to be saying‘NMP know what they’re doing’ – let’s behonest, we want the NDA to renew ourcontract.

“My objective is to ensure absolutelythat all the decision-makers say that wehave done a good job: that we have usedthe capability at Sellafield to generate acentre of excellence as part of the EnergyCoast Masterplan so the rest of the worldsees West Cumbria as a centre of nuclearexcellence.

“It’s also a case for us also of maintain-ing credibility and building trust – wewould like to be seen as BNFL were in thatrespect and being a good neighbour. Wehave joined with the NDA and SellafieldLtd in a funding partnership to helpachieve that commitment through theBritain’s Energy Coast West CumbriaBoard.

“New-build is not on NMP’s agenda, butour mission at Sellafield is very much insupport of it. We know that if we don’t do a

good job then it’s not going to be helpful,so we’re doing everything to support thenew opportunities serving this region.

“I personally have a strong desire to seenuclear new-build through the UK andparticularly in this region.

“It would connect very well with thework we do at Sellafield and the availableskill base we have here.

“I think there should be no reason whythis area should not get a couple of react-ors but the events on the November 19 and20 brought up how isolated we are. I thinkit woke a lot of people up. It suddenly madepeople realise there’s a lot to be donehere.

“It pays to listen – we listen a lot, andwhat I do know is there is a very complexof mix of priorities up here, all sorts oftensions in terms of the economics andpeople’s needs.

“We are trying to filter out those activit-ies which we really believe need to beaddressed, we have to rely on what peopleadvise. The economic picture is going tochange and that’s another reason weprefer to let the community tell us what’sneeded.

“Establishing that trust and credibilitywill, I am sure, enable us to come up withthe right answers.”

PART OF A TEAM: Graham Campbell is the new General Manager of NMP with some of his colleagues in the company’s office at the Westlakes Science Park. From the left: BillAnderton, Penny Hilton-McNerney, Alina Bucur, Chris Abbott and Jackie Corlett MIKE MCKENZIE

VIEW FROM THE TOP: An aerial picture of the Sellafield site

18

19

DIANE ARMSTRONG, 39Performance Manager,Barrow Office of West

Lakes Renaissance

WILD SEAS: Windsurfers skip along thewaves at the Point of Comfort Scar

I love working on Britain's Energy Coast™because...... of the potential for real change.

Describe your commute to work... It takesabout 20 minutes along the A5087, with viewsof Morecambe Bay and Piel Island to the leftand the Lakeland fells to the right.

What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...Damsons.

When I am notworking my perfectday in Cumbria is...

Going for a long walkalong the beach atRoanhead when thetide is in, accompan-ied by my husband,daughter and my twoIrish setters.

My favourite placein the whole of Cum-bria is...

The beach at Com-fort Scar on More-cambe Bay. The sunrises and sunsets over acalm tide are breathtaking, then again so arethe wild seas . . . and I see them all from mywindow!

My favourite outdoor pursuit is...Eating out!My favourite three-course Cumbrian

meal is...Poached Pears at

Hartley’s in Daltonfollowed by SaltedSea Bass at the

Stagger Inn,Stainton, and tofinish a vanillacrème brulee.

My favour-ite drinkis...A lovely

cuppa.My favourite

place to eat out is...During the day it would have to be the

Bosun’s Locker on Roa Island, and for even-ing meals, Hartleys in Dalton

If someone from abroad had never beento Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be...

The hills . . . and from the top of them, theviews!

FAVOURITE:Bosun’s LockerCafe, Roa Island

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

AAAHH: Cup of tea

New dawn for Sellafield

IN THE HOT SEAT: Graham Campbell,General Manager of NMP, has a great vision for the future of Sellafield

BRIGHTFUTURE:Sellafield

SELLAFIELD MD BILL POULSON – PAGE 31 >>

BIG INTERVIEWGRAHAM Campbell, GeneralManager of NuclearManagement Partners, talksto ALAN IRVING

JUST over 12 months ago, Sel-lafield passed into the hands ofNuclear Management Partners, aconsortium of American, Frenchand British companies.

The deal was said to be on the samefinancial scale as the 2012 LondonOlympics, with the potential to have amassive impact on both Sellafield’s opera-tions and on West Cumbria’s economy forthe next 50 years.

Nuclear Management Partners werehanded the reins in November 2008, fivemonths after the consortium won the bidto land a lucrative contract from the Nuc-lear Decommissioning Authority.

It is worth around £1.3bn a year (but witha potential bonus of up to £50m a year,depending on results).

Competition was fierce: NMP (URSWashington, Ariva and Amec) was upagainst four other powerful global bid-ders.

Only four people were privy to theidentity of the winning bidder – theywere sworn to secrecy until the an-nouncement at 10am on Friday July 11,2008.

First to hear the news (on behalf ofNMP) was Graham Campbell. By all ac-counts, the then general manager of URSWashington, the consortium’s Americanarm who holds a similar position forNMP in Cumbria, was told even beforethe Prime Minister.

“I am told (reliably) I was the firstperson to be told in our organisation. Itwas a very important, exciting and tensemoment,” says Graham.

The stakes were high. “That morning,”says the affable Mancunian, “I was alonein my office (at Ingwell Hall, Westlakes);the rest of the team, 30-odd people, werein the training room down the cor-ridor, out of the way.

“I was able to tell ourchairman Tom Zargesand managing directorBob Peddie immedi-ately – they werealso quietly out of

the way in a corner!What we did next was walk down thecorridor with a long face purposely.

“Everyone shouted ‘what’s happened?’fearing from our looks that we’d lost out . .. I just raised an arm saying ‘we’vewon’.

“It was crazy, there was such a tremend-ous relief, not just at winning the job butall the efforts that had been put in. Peoplehad moved countries, dislocated theirfamilies to work night and day on thebid.

“To say everyone was on tenterhookswas an understatement. To hear they’dlost was obviously difficult for our com-petitors, all good-quality companies we’dworked with in the United States. It wouldhave been the same for us.”

Graham Campbell, drawing on decadesof business experience all over the world,turned all his attentions to the “SellafieldProject” from day one, lasting over threeyears.

He reflects: “It was an amazing exercise.In order to meet the challenge we broughtthree major companies in from across theworld.”

An irresistible combination? “Well, ob-viously, that was the way the client (NDA)finally determined it.”

One of the key factors was what NMPpromised but moreover assured the NDAit could deliver for the West Cumbrian

community.

“I spent quite a lot time getting to knowthe local people,” Graham pointed out.“Part of the bid was socio-economics; itwas important we understood exactly howthe various stakeholders reacted to thecompetition process, what they were look-ing for and expected.

“What we brought to the table was aunique mix of skills in operations, decom-missioning, project management and thelocal knowledge – our UK, French, Amer-ican mix pretty well met the require-ments.”

How does he find it working not just forone but three masters? “Being in from thestart helped giving me the benefit of work-ing with the different cultures and thedifferent ways of doing things. I could alsodraw on a lot of my own experience indifferent organisations and joint venturesin various parts of the world.”

So what exactly is his role? “My task isessentially to ensure that the require-ments of the board are discharged in thearea. We are very clear on what those are:working with the NDA, the site licencecompany (Sellafield Ltd) and all the stake-holders in the region – I make sure wehave the resources, the plans and theactivities.

“If I don’t ensure that then people willask why?

“Quite clearly NMP is here to deliver theNDA’s Sellafield mission of clean-up anddecommissioning being done in a man-aged fashion focussed on high hazardreduction, primarily flowing through alifetime plan.”

Saving money? “I wouldn’t say savingmoney is the key, more a case of acting

effectively and efficiently, deliveringvalue for money. A big part of our bid wasto demonstrate we could do it.”

And earning a £50m dividend? “We havefee mechanisms in place with the NDAbased purely on measured, deliverablevalue.

“It’s an initial five-year contract and forthis year we have performance-based in-centives in place, all very clearly identi-fied up front with the NDA. Right now I’dsay we’ve delivered on all the agreedincentives and are quite happy we’re go-ing to achieve what we set out toachieve.”

How important is the stakeholder in-volvement? “Total. I spent a lot of timefrom 2006, with others, understanding thestakeholder community needs, the socio-economic issues, so if we won the contractwe’d have a running start, how we couldwork with people to make that side ofthings effective and give a real commit-ment to the community.

“Being a Northern lad, born inManchester, I knew Cumbria pretty well,one of the first drivers to go overHardknott Pass (in a Morris 10) and I canhonestly saw I’ve learned more eachweek.

“The culture up here is very specific. Iam aware of it, learning and listening.When somebody calls me a marra I’llbe very pleased indeed.

“I respect the needs of the communityup here. I get at least one stakeholdereither in the office or talking to me onthe phone every single day about spe-cific issues – it’s important to under-stand how everything links up and forme to make sense of it.

“BNFL and Sellafield, in the old days,were very much the mainstay of thecommunity. NMP is going to build onit, hopefully try to improve in particu-lar ways, maybe do different types ofsupport activities.

“We made an absolute commitment(in our bid) towards community sup-port: this was on the table before we

were awarded the contract, we took it tothe top of the priority list. Since thenwe’ve put £20 million directly on the lineover five years and on top of it is another£500,000 per year managed through theCumbria Community Fund.

“We’ve got the bigger funds looking atthe bigger projects, but the £500,000 is justas important, helping folks on the groundproviding the community with the pro-jects it wants without us telling them.

“Part of my job is to make sure thosefunds are managed properly.

“As the West Cumbria flood disasterbegan to take its toll, NMP was among thefirst to come to West Cumbria’s aid finan-cially by contributing £50,000 to the Recov-ery Fund.

“I was sat with the NMP board at Sel-lafield (on November 19) watching theweather getting worse by the minute.

“The site staff were released progress-ively over the afternoon and the followingmorning I spoke to Tony Cunningham andsaid NMP would like to open a fund.

“We thought what we put in was bothsignificant and important in setting somesort of a marker. It’s satisfying to know aswe speak that the fund has passed wellover the £1m mark.

“It’s unbelievable and so impressive theway everybody pulled round, and theamount of contributions in such a shortspace of time was remarkable. Everybodymucked in – great to see, but there’s still alot of work to do out there.”

Could he do his job without this com-munity support? “Absolutely not. That’swhy it’s a two-way street between the siteand the community.

“At Sellafield, I am not directly respons-ible for operations –- that’s Bill Poulsonand his team – but I work with them on adaily basis.

“Am I satisfied with the way things havegone over the first 12 months? Yes, abso-lutely, what we have done is preciselywhat we said we were going to do – andmore, because we brought on to the site alot more additional capability to try andmove the thing forward a bit faster.

“One of my tasks is to ensure the sitehas the necessary resources to deliver theoperations in the wider sense, that thethree big consortium companies areaware of the needs and we call on the bestavailable folk in the organisation.

“At this point we’ve got around anadditional 75 people on the site, we call itreach-back resources so we can startmaking the improvements that the other(PASE) teams identified.

“The Sellafield workforce have all thecapabilities and professionalism weneed: what we’re trying to do is make itbuild on it, work in better and differentways, bringing in some newtechnologies to supportthe workforce.

“We will have done a

good job when we demonstrate we havedelivered everything – you can measurethat.”

Where does he want Sellafield to be infive years’ time? “What we are aiming foris to deliver six years’ work in five – six forfive. A lot of thought, planning has goneinto that thinking. We’re going to deliver20 per cent more work for a five-yearprogramme, that’s the bottom line.

“We want folk out there to be saying‘NMP know what they’re doing’ – let’s behonest, we want the NDA to renew ourcontract.

“My objective is to ensure absolutelythat all the decision-makers say that wehave done a good job: that we have usedthe capability at Sellafield to generate acentre of excellence as part of the EnergyCoast Masterplan so the rest of the worldsees West Cumbria as a centre of nuclearexcellence.

“It’s also a case for us also of maintain-ing credibility and building trust – wewould like to be seen as BNFL were in thatrespect and being a good neighbour. Wehave joined with the NDA and SellafieldLtd in a funding partnership to helpachieve that commitment through theBritain’s Energy Coast West CumbriaBoard.

“New-build is not on NMP’s agenda, butour mission at Sellafield is very much insupport of it. We know that if we don’t do a

good job then it’s not going to be helpful,so we’re doing everything to support thenew opportunities serving this region.

“I personally have a strong desire to seenuclear new-build through the UK andparticularly in this region.

“It would connect very well with thework we do at Sellafield and the availableskill base we have here.

“I think there should be no reason whythis area should not get a couple of react-ors but the events on the November 19 and20 brought up how isolated we are. I thinkit woke a lot of people up. It suddenly madepeople realise there’s a lot to be donehere.

“It pays to listen – we listen a lot, andwhat I do know is there is a very complexof mix of priorities up here, all sorts oftensions in terms of the economics andpeople’s needs.

“We are trying to filter out those activit-ies which we really believe need to beaddressed, we have to rely on what peopleadvise. The economic picture is going tochange and that’s another reason weprefer to let the community tell us what’sneeded.

“Establishing that trust and credibilitywill, I am sure, enable us to come up withthe right answers.”

PART OF A TEAM: Graham Campbell is the new General Manager of NMP with some of his colleagues in the company’s office at the Westlakes Science Park. From the left: BillAnderton, Penny Hilton-McNerney, Alina Bucur, Chris Abbott and Jackie Corlett MIKE MCKENZIE

VIEW FROM THE TOP: An aerial picture of the Sellafield site

18

20 21

If Clean Coal discovers sufficientreserves on Britain’s Energy Coast™,the company said it would result in a

multi-million pound investment.Underground coal gasification wouldconvert the coal into combustible gas

used for power generation

RENEWABLE energy company, CornwallLight & Power has plans to install wind

turbines on the energy coast near Millomat Langthwaite Farm. Electricity

generated by the turbines would go intothe local distribution network and could

be sufficient to power over 11,000households in the surrounding

communities each year

WEST Cumbrian-based James Fisher Nuclear Servicesis developing a new £1.5m new trials and simulation

facility on the energy coast at Egremont complete witha rig hall of nearly 1,000 square metres, 21m high witha 20 tonne overhead travelling crane, and 600 square

metres of office space, enabling the mock-up, trial andendurance testing of equipment. It allows a full

demonstration of equipment capability before it isexposed to hazardous environments

THE UK Low Carbon Transition Planplots how the UK will meet the 34per cent cut in emissions on 1990levels by 2020. By 2020, across the

UK more than 1.2 million people willbe in green jobs, seven millionhomes will have benefited from

whole house makeovers. (UK LowCarbon Transition Plan)

ROUND three licences for offshorewind farms let by the goverment

and announced in January saw thegiant Irish Sea zone 9 let to UKenergy giant Centrica. The zonestretches from North Wales to

Cumbria. More than 1,000turbines could go up in it

WATT’S THE DEALBy 2020, across the UKaround 40 per cent ofelectricity will be fromlow-carbon sources,

from renewables,nuclear and clean coal

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

WATT’S THE DEAL

RENEWABLES REPORT

Renewablesby JOHN SIMPSON

MIKE TYNAN, 53, ChiefExecutive Officer,Westinghouse UK

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

GREAT FOOD: The Yew Tree Inn, Dean

FAVE: Jennings bitter

I love working on Britain’s Energy Coast™because...

Being born and brought up in the foothills ofthe Ennerdale Valley, I spent many happyhours surveying the West Cumbrian Coastfrom the top of Dent Fell. The spectacular viewof the coastal plain north over Cleator Moor tothe Solway Firth and the Scottish Lowlands,to the east the mighty Pillar Rock, Great Gableand the Central Cumbrian Fells, to the westthe Isle of Man, and to the South the imposingindustrial complex of Sellafield, with theplumes of steam from Calder Hall PowerStation cooling towers – always an eye-catching sight. For me, the energy coaststretches down through Cumbria to my newhome in Lancashire, where the beautiful FyldeCoast hosts the country’s premier nuclear fuelmanufacturing facility operated by Westing-house UK at Springfields,between Preston andBlackpool, whereI now work.

What's Cum-bria's best keptsecret...

The lakes, val-leys, people andpubs of the West-ern fells.

When I am notworking my perfect day in Cumbria is...

Walking off the beaten track in the EnnerdaleValley, climbing over Steeple, through WindGap and on to Pillar. Topped-off with a coupleof pints at the Lowther Arms in Hensinghamsquare!

My favourite place in the whole of Cum-bria is....

Ennerdale Water.My favourite outdoor pursuit is....Football closely followed by fell walking.My favourite three-course Cumbrian

meal is...Derwent trout for starter, Holker salt-marsh

lamb for main, and apple pie with Hartley’s icecream for dessert

My favourite drink is...Jennings Bitter.My favourite place to eat out is...In Cumbria – The Yew Tree Inn, Dean.If someone from abroad had never been

to Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be.....

The breathtaking beauty of Cumbria.

IR Martin Holdgatehas been familiarwith the Eden Val-ley of Cumbria sincethe 1930s when hewas a boy.

His father, who was aBlackpool school head-

master, regularly took the family to theEden Valley for their summer holidays,even through wartime years.

Now little Martin Holdgate is the vener-able Sir Martin, who lives near KirkbyStephen and has a glittering publicservice career behind him, particularlyin the areas of environment andconservation.

Rather than rest on his laurels, he ischairman of the Renewables Panel ofCumbria Vision, the strategic body set upto spot opportunities to improve thefuture prosperity of the county and itsEnergy Coast.

He has just produced a fascinatingreport that sets out in great detailCumbria’s wide potential for renewableenergy generation – from chicken, cowand pig droppings to a 12 miles longenergy bridge over Morecambe Bay.

The Scope for Renewable Energy inCumbria, which is thought to be the firstof its type for a UK county, took himaround five months to compile and is ascoping document providing a potentialbaseline from which Cumbria’s variouseconomic movers and shakers andclimate change combatants can work infuture.

He hopes it will lead to the setting up ofCumbria Energy Office or Partnership tocoordinate the development of renewableproject.

Sir Martin said: “I started the idea quiteearly having taken over the chairmanshipof the Renewables Panel of CumbriaVision, to crystalize the panel’s thinkingabout what we were supposed to bedoing.”

The panel includes representatives fromlocal authorities, government bodies andbusiness.

“It seemed to me to get them all thinkingabout common ground, looking at scopingthe different forms of renewable energy inCumbria, would be helpful.

“I think an Energy Office or Partnershipfor the county would be a very useful partof the way forward but whether itwill happen will depend onmoney and on whether in thepresent tight economic situ-ation the Northwest Region-al Development Associationwould find the funds forsuch an office.”

The report examines thevarious technologies – off-shore and onshore wind,hydroelectric, geothermal,solar and photovoltaic,landfill/sewage, wood (bio-mass), tidal and wave – andattaches potential jobcreation if they are takenup in the quest to makeCumbria a significant UKenergy supplier.

Jobs are notional and

extrapolated from industry standards perinstalled megawatt of energy, But thereport concluded that across the piecedevelopment of the target technologiescould create between 4,000 and 7,500 jobsby 2050.

Nuclear is the subject of another Cum-bria Vision study and was left out. Thereare, in any case, arguments about wheth-er it is renewable or not, said Sir Martin,partly depending on whether you haveyour own supplies of uranium to dig out,and on whether you accept creating newfuel from reprocessing spent fuel as arenewable.

But nuclear fusion if it is ever achievedit would certainly be renewable energy, hesaid, just like the sun, converting hydro-gen into helium.

The sun itself is just a ‘big nuclearreactor’ in the vacuum of space 93 millionmiles from earth,said Sir Martin.

It “wobbles a bit” but has been a sus-tained source of power for four billionyears and“will

be good for another three or four billion”,he said.

Sir Martin, born 1931, is a former chair-man of the government’s RenewableEnergy Advisory Group and was ChiefScientist and Deputy Secretary, Environ-ment Protection, at the Department of theEnvironment for 12 years.

He says of the Energy Coast initiative: “Ithink it is a sensible concept quite frankly.We have a major opportunity for energybased industries”

He says of renewables in the county: “Ithink it is going to be a steady progressiveprocess. Quite apart from climate change,one reason is energy security.

“We have been through a period of dec-ades where we have been self sufficient ingas and an exporter of oil. That is going toend as the North Sea reserves dwindle.There’s a necessity for things that makeus independent of imported oil and gasregardless of climate change.”

Sir Martin believes only a tenth of thewind energy from Cumbria will beonshore because of scenic issues, andthinks most of that will be along theWestern coastal region down which thegrid will also have to be upgraded.

The greatest renewable output will becoming from offshore turbines and alsopotentially from tidal stream turbines inthe Solway Firth, Morecambe Bay and theDuddon estuary, though unlike the firsttwo, no group is proposing a Duddonscheme.

Sir Martin says a full 30 kilometre bar-rage across the Solway would be secondonly to the massive proposed Severn Bar-rage able to produce an astound-ing 5½-8 gigawatts of power(or 5,500 megawatts)

compared to 8.6 gigawatts at the Severn.A Duddon barrage would produce 500

megawatts and a Morecambe Bay solidbarrage, if one were built, would generatemaybe 3 gigawatts (3,000 megawatts). Butall three would pose serious environment-al challenges.

However, a smaller Solway gatewayscheme from Annan to Bowness on Sol-way is a serious proposition that couldgenerate 300 megawatts of power withoutattracting controversy, said Sir Martin.

“A bridge across Morecambe Bay isattractive because it would be an enlargedtransport corridor that would link Bar-row and the M6, I imagine a lot of peoplewould be very pleased with that link.

“The idea of the bridge is not only acommunication link ,whether they put aroad over it or a railway or both, it wouldhave tidal stream turbines in the mainchannels.

“They estimate it would cost £700m tobuild and would generate about 200megawatts.

“It would not have the same ecologicalimpact as a barrier on the internationallyimportant wildlife because it would not bea solid barrier.”

Water would continue to flow under thebridge and energy would just be tappedfrom the main channels and there couldeven be wind turbines on top of the bridge.It could even carry the cable for the bigelectricity grid upgrade needed in Cum-bria, he said.

Sir Martin said of the Morecambe Baybridge plan: “I am not against the idea. Ithink it is worth exploring further.”

● See the full report at www.cum-briavision.co.uk

SSIR Martin Holdgate,

chairman of theRenewables Panel of

Cumbria Vision, talks abouthis fascinating report –The

Scope for RenewableEnergy in Cumbria

can help us prosper

REPORT: Sir Martin HoldgateNEW ENERGY: Pigs seen in front of a biogas plant in the Netherlands. Sir Martin Holdgate thinks this could work in for Cumbria

WIND POWER: The moonover Ireleth wind farm. Sir

Martin believes only atenth of the wind energy

from Cumbria will beonshore

SHEENAH ALCOCK REF: 0309808

SUN POWER: A solar power plant in Spain with panels reflecting light up to a centraltower. Sir Martin believes the sun can be another source of renewable energy

20 21

If Clean Coal discovers sufficientreserves on Britain’s Energy Coast™,the company said it would result in a

multi-million pound investment.Underground coal gasification wouldconvert the coal into combustible gas

used for power generation

RENEWABLE energy company, CornwallLight & Power has plans to install wind

turbines on the energy coast near Millomat Langthwaite Farm. Electricity

generated by the turbines would go intothe local distribution network and could

be sufficient to power over 11,000households in the surrounding

communities each year

WEST Cumbrian-based James Fisher Nuclear Servicesis developing a new £1.5m new trials and simulation

facility on the energy coast at Egremont complete witha rig hall of nearly 1,000 square metres, 21m high witha 20 tonne overhead travelling crane, and 600 square

metres of office space, enabling the mock-up, trial andendurance testing of equipment. It allows a full

demonstration of equipment capability before it isexposed to hazardous environments

THE UK Low Carbon Transition Planplots how the UK will meet the 34per cent cut in emissions on 1990levels by 2020. By 2020, across the

UK more than 1.2 million people willbe in green jobs, seven millionhomes will have benefited from

whole house makeovers. (UK LowCarbon Transition Plan)

ROUND three licences for offshorewind farms let by the goverment

and announced in January saw thegiant Irish Sea zone 9 let to UKenergy giant Centrica. The zonestretches from North Wales to

Cumbria. More than 1,000turbines could go up in it

WATT’S THE DEALBy 2020, across the UKaround 40 per cent ofelectricity will be fromlow-carbon sources,

from renewables,nuclear and clean coal

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

WATT’S THE DEAL

RENEWABLES REPORT

Renewablesby JOHN SIMPSON

MIKE TYNAN, 53, ChiefExecutive Officer,Westinghouse UK

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

GREAT FOOD: The Yew Tree Inn, Dean

FAVE: Jennings bitter

I love working on Britain’s Energy Coast™because...

Being born and brought up in the foothills ofthe Ennerdale Valley, I spent many happyhours surveying the West Cumbrian Coastfrom the top of Dent Fell. The spectacular viewof the coastal plain north over Cleator Moor tothe Solway Firth and the Scottish Lowlands,to the east the mighty Pillar Rock, Great Gableand the Central Cumbrian Fells, to the westthe Isle of Man, and to the South the imposingindustrial complex of Sellafield, with theplumes of steam from Calder Hall PowerStation cooling towers – always an eye-catching sight. For me, the energy coaststretches down through Cumbria to my newhome in Lancashire, where the beautiful FyldeCoast hosts the country’s premier nuclear fuelmanufacturing facility operated by Westing-house UK at Springfields,between Preston andBlackpool, whereI now work.

What's Cum-bria's best keptsecret...

The lakes, val-leys, people andpubs of the West-ern fells.

When I am notworking my perfect day in Cumbria is...

Walking off the beaten track in the EnnerdaleValley, climbing over Steeple, through WindGap and on to Pillar. Topped-off with a coupleof pints at the Lowther Arms in Hensinghamsquare!

My favourite place in the whole of Cum-bria is....

Ennerdale Water.My favourite outdoor pursuit is....Football closely followed by fell walking.My favourite three-course Cumbrian

meal is...Derwent trout for starter, Holker salt-marsh

lamb for main, and apple pie with Hartley’s icecream for dessert

My favourite drink is...Jennings Bitter.My favourite place to eat out is...In Cumbria – The Yew Tree Inn, Dean.If someone from abroad had never been

to Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be.....

The breathtaking beauty of Cumbria.

IR Martin Holdgatehas been familiarwith the Eden Val-ley of Cumbria sincethe 1930s when hewas a boy.

His father, who was aBlackpool school head-

master, regularly took the family to theEden Valley for their summer holidays,even through wartime years.

Now little Martin Holdgate is the vener-able Sir Martin, who lives near KirkbyStephen and has a glittering publicservice career behind him, particularlyin the areas of environment andconservation.

Rather than rest on his laurels, he ischairman of the Renewables Panel ofCumbria Vision, the strategic body set upto spot opportunities to improve thefuture prosperity of the county and itsEnergy Coast.

He has just produced a fascinatingreport that sets out in great detailCumbria’s wide potential for renewableenergy generation – from chicken, cowand pig droppings to a 12 miles longenergy bridge over Morecambe Bay.

The Scope for Renewable Energy inCumbria, which is thought to be the firstof its type for a UK county, took himaround five months to compile and is ascoping document providing a potentialbaseline from which Cumbria’s variouseconomic movers and shakers andclimate change combatants can work infuture.

He hopes it will lead to the setting up ofCumbria Energy Office or Partnership tocoordinate the development of renewableproject.

Sir Martin said: “I started the idea quiteearly having taken over the chairmanshipof the Renewables Panel of CumbriaVision, to crystalize the panel’s thinkingabout what we were supposed to bedoing.”

The panel includes representatives fromlocal authorities, government bodies andbusiness.

“It seemed to me to get them all thinkingabout common ground, looking at scopingthe different forms of renewable energy inCumbria, would be helpful.

“I think an Energy Office or Partnershipfor the county would be a very useful partof the way forward but whether itwill happen will depend onmoney and on whether in thepresent tight economic situ-ation the Northwest Region-al Development Associationwould find the funds forsuch an office.”

The report examines thevarious technologies – off-shore and onshore wind,hydroelectric, geothermal,solar and photovoltaic,landfill/sewage, wood (bio-mass), tidal and wave – andattaches potential jobcreation if they are takenup in the quest to makeCumbria a significant UKenergy supplier.

Jobs are notional and

extrapolated from industry standards perinstalled megawatt of energy, But thereport concluded that across the piecedevelopment of the target technologiescould create between 4,000 and 7,500 jobsby 2050.

Nuclear is the subject of another Cum-bria Vision study and was left out. Thereare, in any case, arguments about wheth-er it is renewable or not, said Sir Martin,partly depending on whether you haveyour own supplies of uranium to dig out,and on whether you accept creating newfuel from reprocessing spent fuel as arenewable.

But nuclear fusion if it is ever achievedit would certainly be renewable energy, hesaid, just like the sun, converting hydro-gen into helium.

The sun itself is just a ‘big nuclearreactor’ in the vacuum of space 93 millionmiles from earth,said Sir Martin.

It “wobbles a bit” but has been a sus-tained source of power for four billionyears and“will

be good for another three or four billion”,he said.

Sir Martin, born 1931, is a former chair-man of the government’s RenewableEnergy Advisory Group and was ChiefScientist and Deputy Secretary, Environ-ment Protection, at the Department of theEnvironment for 12 years.

He says of the Energy Coast initiative: “Ithink it is a sensible concept quite frankly.We have a major opportunity for energybased industries”

He says of renewables in the county: “Ithink it is going to be a steady progressiveprocess. Quite apart from climate change,one reason is energy security.

“We have been through a period of dec-ades where we have been self sufficient ingas and an exporter of oil. That is going toend as the North Sea reserves dwindle.There’s a necessity for things that makeus independent of imported oil and gasregardless of climate change.”

Sir Martin believes only a tenth of thewind energy from Cumbria will beonshore because of scenic issues, andthinks most of that will be along theWestern coastal region down which thegrid will also have to be upgraded.

The greatest renewable output will becoming from offshore turbines and alsopotentially from tidal stream turbines inthe Solway Firth, Morecambe Bay and theDuddon estuary, though unlike the firsttwo, no group is proposing a Duddonscheme.

Sir Martin says a full 30 kilometre bar-rage across the Solway would be secondonly to the massive proposed Severn Bar-rage able to produce an astound-ing 5½-8 gigawatts of power(or 5,500 megawatts)

compared to 8.6 gigawatts at the Severn.A Duddon barrage would produce 500

megawatts and a Morecambe Bay solidbarrage, if one were built, would generatemaybe 3 gigawatts (3,000 megawatts). Butall three would pose serious environment-al challenges.

However, a smaller Solway gatewayscheme from Annan to Bowness on Sol-way is a serious proposition that couldgenerate 300 megawatts of power withoutattracting controversy, said Sir Martin.

“A bridge across Morecambe Bay isattractive because it would be an enlargedtransport corridor that would link Bar-row and the M6, I imagine a lot of peoplewould be very pleased with that link.

“The idea of the bridge is not only acommunication link ,whether they put aroad over it or a railway or both, it wouldhave tidal stream turbines in the mainchannels.

“They estimate it would cost £700m tobuild and would generate about 200megawatts.

“It would not have the same ecologicalimpact as a barrier on the internationallyimportant wildlife because it would not bea solid barrier.”

Water would continue to flow under thebridge and energy would just be tappedfrom the main channels and there couldeven be wind turbines on top of the bridge.It could even carry the cable for the bigelectricity grid upgrade needed in Cum-bria, he said.

Sir Martin said of the Morecambe Baybridge plan: “I am not against the idea. Ithink it is worth exploring further.”

● See the full report at www.cum-briavision.co.uk

SSIR Martin Holdgate,

chairman of theRenewables Panel of

Cumbria Vision, talks abouthis fascinating report –The

Scope for RenewableEnergy in Cumbria

can help us prosper

REPORT: Sir Martin HoldgateNEW ENERGY: Pigs seen in front of a biogas plant in the Netherlands. Sir Martin Holdgate thinks this could work in for Cumbria

WIND POWER: The moonover Ireleth wind farm. Sir

Martin believes only atenth of the wind energy

from Cumbria will beonshore

SHEENAH ALCOCK REF: 0309808

SUN POWER: A solar power plant in Spain with panels reflecting light up to a centraltower. Sir Martin believes the sun can be another source of renewable energy

22

Nuclearreaction

saves day

23

OBODY was preparedfor the devastationthe floods causedwhen they struck inNovember.

But the communities ofWorkington and Cocker-mouth quickly respondedto what had been thrown

at them – and as one of the region’s largestemployers the nuclear industry formed akey part of that response.

Working closely together, Sellafield Ltd,its parent body Nuclear ManagementPartners and the Nuclear Decommission-ing Authority formed a partnershipwhich played, and is continuing to play, aninstrumental role in the recovery.

And all three organisations providedsupport on the ground, with project man-agement and communications staff beingreleased from their usual duties tosupport the flood recovery programme.

Here, we tell the stories of how each ofthe nuclear partners responded.

Sellafield LtdAs West Cumbria woke to the unimagin-

able devastation caused by the previousday’s deluge Sellafield Ltd was alreadyplanning its response.

Managing Director Bill Poulson waskeen to help in any way possible, butrecognised the need to work closely withthe NDA and NMP. In the early stagesof the crisis communications supportwas most crucial, and members of theSellafield Stakeholder Relations teamwere on hand to help.

Sellafield Ltd’s head of media relationsJohn Reynolds and Brian Hough, NDAcommunications manager for Sellafield,helped out at police HQ in Penrith asworldwide media coverage gatheredpace.

The pair also went into local authorityoffices over the following week tooffer help and support from the nuclearindustry.

Sellafield Ltd’s stakeholder relationsmanager Howard Rooms provided a vitallink into the local authorities and floodrelief centres as the crisis unfolded.

Media relations officer, Karl Connor,who was also dispatched to help managethe media on the ground, said: “Therewere so many journalists and cameracrews arriving from all over the world.The local authorities needed somesupport and we were more than happy getinvolved.

“The problems people were facing werehuge, but what shone through for me wasthe reaction from the locals.

“I was helping look after the media onthe Friday at the Sheep and Wool Centrewhere there were several pensionersfacing a second night away from home,and many of them didn’t know if they evenhad homes to go back to.

“But there were no tears, there was nocomplaining, people were just helpingeach other out. It was testament to thehuman spirit and made me proud to be aCumbrian.”

As the recovery moved on, Sellafield Ltdprovided and is continuing to provideproject management expertise.

Tom Gilroy, from Sellafield Ltd, is man-aging on the ground. He said: “It has beenhard work, but very important and veryrewarding.

“After the cameras and TV crews left.the hard work really began. It is a majorrebuilding job, but it is very rewardingand I'm happy to have been given theopportunity to get involved in it.”

Sellafield Ltd managed the nuclearsupply chain response, ensuring thatsupport from companies such as SirRobert McAlpine’s, Balfour Kirkpatrick,Amec, Stobbart’s and Laing O’Rouke, wasused most effectively.

Speaking on behalf of the nuclear part-ners (Sellafield Ltd, NDA and NuclearManagement Partners), Sellafield LtdManaging Director, Bill Poulson, said:“The nuclear industry is very much a partof West Cumbrian culture.

“We have 10,000 on the site currently andthere are so many more who have eitherworked there in the past, who will work inthe future or who have friends or relativesconnected to us.

“When something like the floodshappens in this region it happens to us – toour workforce, to our relatives, to ourfriends and to our neighbours.

“So we have responded in the way anyrelative, friend or good neighbourwould.

“In partnership with our customer theNDA, our parent body NMP, and oursupply chain, we co-ordinated theindustry’s response to get the maximumbenefit and ensure that the help, bothfinancially and in terms of other support,went where it could be most effective.

“Sellafield Ltd, NMP and NDA havegiven that assistance and we will continueto do so.”

NMPAs the severity of the floods became

apparent, NMP general manager GrahamCampbell and head of socio-economicsGary McKeating recognised that NMPcould assist through its ownership ofSellafield Ltd and access to large numbers

of skilled workers at the site. Afterspeaking to MPs Tony Cunningham andJamie Reed, and with the leaders ofCopeland and Allerdale Councils, ElaineWoodburn and Tim Heslop, NMP offeredimmediate support.

Tony, who was on the ground in Cocker-mouth, expressed his wish to open a floodsupport fund and NMP offered to kick-start the fund with a donation of £50,000.

With time of the essence, Gary came upwith the idea of using the existing Cum-bria Flood Recovery Fund, held by theCumbria Community Foundation, whichhad been set up following the Carlislefloods of 2005. Tony immediately agreedand began to promote the fund on radioand TV.

Deb Muscat, acting director of CumbriaCommunity Foundation and the stewardof the separate £500,000 per year NMPCommunity Fund, reactivated the fundand, after NMP got the ball rolling,donations quickly started coming in.

She said: “The Cumbria Flood RecoveryFund has so far raised £1.8m.

“Being able to launch the fund withNMP’s £50,000 within hours of the floodstriking is a key contributor to thisfantastic total.

“We are in no doubt that the immediatepromotion of the fund by the partners onlocal and national TV and radio helpedbring in donations from all across the UK.Having the NMP donation also meant thatwe could start paying out emergencygrants within four days of homes beingflooded.”

NMP’s response was a measured one.They took a co-ordinated approach withthe other nuclear funding partners,Sellafield Ltd and the NDA.

“This involved not only the action ofhanding over money but, more import-antly, forming a strong collaboration tomaximise the effectiveness of the assist-ance being offered.

Gary said: “On the Tuesday followingthe floods, I was driving to a flood recoverymeeting at the Cumbria CommunityFoundation offices in Dovenby and Ipicked up a hitch hiker just outside ofWorkington.

“The hiker was a man called DuncanMunro from Cockermouth, who had beenflooded out of his house and was walkingback home to see the damage.

“His story was so distressing I took himto the CCF offices where staff helped himfill in forms for the Flood Recovery Fund.He was one of the first recipients of assist-ance from the fund and we are still incontact – so I know that what we are doingis making a real difference to people.”

NDAThe NDA were able to help by offering

both personnel and money for the fund.Brian Hough, their stakeholder commu-

nications manager for Cumbria, wasquick to offer his services to the GoldCommand which had been set up inPenrith to manage the response.

Brian said: “At challenging times it isimportant that we maximise theexpertise we have and from my job priorto joining the NDA I had previous experi-ence of being involved with the Carlislefloods and issues such as the foot-and-mouth crisis.”

“In fact it was during that weekend thatI spoke to the local councils to establishwhat other help the nuclear partnershipcould provide. That was where the idea ofa project management team arose. On theSunday we identified key individualsfrom Sellafield and the NDA who wethought would be ideal and released themfrom their current jobs. They werequickly brought up to speed for the task inhand and from the Monday began toprovide advice and support.”

That work continues with the team,based locally in Cockermouth, matchingthe need on the ground with the manyoffers of support received from individu-als and organisations. The team is nowbuilding detailed work programmes withthe various agencies and recoverygroups.

The NDA quickly matched NMP's£50,000 donation to the community fundon behalf of itself and its two nuclear sitesin the county, Sellafield and the Low LevelWaste Repository, and added financialsupport to the pre-Christmas Open forBusiness campaign.

Currently the NDA is also looking tofund community projects that cannot befunded through normal routes.

Brian said: “There will always beprojects that don’t fit other fundingcriteria but would a great boost to thelocal community.

“We are keen to help where we can andthe project team is actively identifyingparticular needs that we may be able tohelp with. They aren’t the big ticket itemsbut smaller community based work thatwill help get community life back on trackand provide a much needed moraleboost.

“As a local industry, with many of ourstaff directly and indirectly affected, wewanted to help as much as we can. Thatsupport has come in many ways and asa partnership we will continue to beinvolved in supporting the long termrecovery effort.”

NNOVEMBER2009: The RiverDerwent floodingCockermouth

22

Nuclearreaction

saves day

23

OBODY was preparedfor the devastationthe floods causedwhen they struck inNovember.

But the communities ofWorkington and Cocker-mouth quickly respondedto what had been thrown

at them – and as one of the region’s largestemployers the nuclear industry formed akey part of that response.

Working closely together, Sellafield Ltd,its parent body Nuclear ManagementPartners and the Nuclear Decommission-ing Authority formed a partnershipwhich played, and is continuing to play, aninstrumental role in the recovery.

And all three organisations providedsupport on the ground, with project man-agement and communications staff beingreleased from their usual duties tosupport the flood recovery programme.

Here, we tell the stories of how each ofthe nuclear partners responded.

Sellafield LtdAs West Cumbria woke to the unimagin-

able devastation caused by the previousday’s deluge Sellafield Ltd was alreadyplanning its response.

Managing Director Bill Poulson waskeen to help in any way possible, butrecognised the need to work closely withthe NDA and NMP. In the early stagesof the crisis communications supportwas most crucial, and members of theSellafield Stakeholder Relations teamwere on hand to help.

Sellafield Ltd’s head of media relationsJohn Reynolds and Brian Hough, NDAcommunications manager for Sellafield,helped out at police HQ in Penrith asworldwide media coverage gatheredpace.

The pair also went into local authorityoffices over the following week tooffer help and support from the nuclearindustry.

Sellafield Ltd’s stakeholder relationsmanager Howard Rooms provided a vitallink into the local authorities and floodrelief centres as the crisis unfolded.

Media relations officer, Karl Connor,who was also dispatched to help managethe media on the ground, said: “Therewere so many journalists and cameracrews arriving from all over the world.The local authorities needed somesupport and we were more than happy getinvolved.

“The problems people were facing werehuge, but what shone through for me wasthe reaction from the locals.

“I was helping look after the media onthe Friday at the Sheep and Wool Centrewhere there were several pensionersfacing a second night away from home,and many of them didn’t know if they evenhad homes to go back to.

“But there were no tears, there was nocomplaining, people were just helpingeach other out. It was testament to thehuman spirit and made me proud to be aCumbrian.”

As the recovery moved on, Sellafield Ltdprovided and is continuing to provideproject management expertise.

Tom Gilroy, from Sellafield Ltd, is man-aging on the ground. He said: “It has beenhard work, but very important and veryrewarding.

“After the cameras and TV crews left.the hard work really began. It is a majorrebuilding job, but it is very rewardingand I'm happy to have been given theopportunity to get involved in it.”

Sellafield Ltd managed the nuclearsupply chain response, ensuring thatsupport from companies such as SirRobert McAlpine’s, Balfour Kirkpatrick,Amec, Stobbart’s and Laing O’Rouke, wasused most effectively.

Speaking on behalf of the nuclear part-ners (Sellafield Ltd, NDA and NuclearManagement Partners), Sellafield LtdManaging Director, Bill Poulson, said:“The nuclear industry is very much a partof West Cumbrian culture.

“We have 10,000 on the site currently andthere are so many more who have eitherworked there in the past, who will work inthe future or who have friends or relativesconnected to us.

“When something like the floodshappens in this region it happens to us – toour workforce, to our relatives, to ourfriends and to our neighbours.

“So we have responded in the way anyrelative, friend or good neighbourwould.

“In partnership with our customer theNDA, our parent body NMP, and oursupply chain, we co-ordinated theindustry’s response to get the maximumbenefit and ensure that the help, bothfinancially and in terms of other support,went where it could be most effective.

“Sellafield Ltd, NMP and NDA havegiven that assistance and we will continueto do so.”

NMPAs the severity of the floods became

apparent, NMP general manager GrahamCampbell and head of socio-economicsGary McKeating recognised that NMPcould assist through its ownership ofSellafield Ltd and access to large numbers

of skilled workers at the site. Afterspeaking to MPs Tony Cunningham andJamie Reed, and with the leaders ofCopeland and Allerdale Councils, ElaineWoodburn and Tim Heslop, NMP offeredimmediate support.

Tony, who was on the ground in Cocker-mouth, expressed his wish to open a floodsupport fund and NMP offered to kick-start the fund with a donation of £50,000.

With time of the essence, Gary came upwith the idea of using the existing Cum-bria Flood Recovery Fund, held by theCumbria Community Foundation, whichhad been set up following the Carlislefloods of 2005. Tony immediately agreedand began to promote the fund on radioand TV.

Deb Muscat, acting director of CumbriaCommunity Foundation and the stewardof the separate £500,000 per year NMPCommunity Fund, reactivated the fundand, after NMP got the ball rolling,donations quickly started coming in.

She said: “The Cumbria Flood RecoveryFund has so far raised £1.8m.

“Being able to launch the fund withNMP’s £50,000 within hours of the floodstriking is a key contributor to thisfantastic total.

“We are in no doubt that the immediatepromotion of the fund by the partners onlocal and national TV and radio helpedbring in donations from all across the UK.Having the NMP donation also meant thatwe could start paying out emergencygrants within four days of homes beingflooded.”

NMP’s response was a measured one.They took a co-ordinated approach withthe other nuclear funding partners,Sellafield Ltd and the NDA.

“This involved not only the action ofhanding over money but, more import-antly, forming a strong collaboration tomaximise the effectiveness of the assist-ance being offered.

Gary said: “On the Tuesday followingthe floods, I was driving to a flood recoverymeeting at the Cumbria CommunityFoundation offices in Dovenby and Ipicked up a hitch hiker just outside ofWorkington.

“The hiker was a man called DuncanMunro from Cockermouth, who had beenflooded out of his house and was walkingback home to see the damage.

“His story was so distressing I took himto the CCF offices where staff helped himfill in forms for the Flood Recovery Fund.He was one of the first recipients of assist-ance from the fund and we are still incontact – so I know that what we are doingis making a real difference to people.”

NDAThe NDA were able to help by offering

both personnel and money for the fund.Brian Hough, their stakeholder commu-

nications manager for Cumbria, wasquick to offer his services to the GoldCommand which had been set up inPenrith to manage the response.

Brian said: “At challenging times it isimportant that we maximise theexpertise we have and from my job priorto joining the NDA I had previous experi-ence of being involved with the Carlislefloods and issues such as the foot-and-mouth crisis.”

“In fact it was during that weekend thatI spoke to the local councils to establishwhat other help the nuclear partnershipcould provide. That was where the idea ofa project management team arose. On theSunday we identified key individualsfrom Sellafield and the NDA who wethought would be ideal and released themfrom their current jobs. They werequickly brought up to speed for the task inhand and from the Monday began toprovide advice and support.”

That work continues with the team,based locally in Cockermouth, matchingthe need on the ground with the manyoffers of support received from individu-als and organisations. The team is nowbuilding detailed work programmes withthe various agencies and recoverygroups.

The NDA quickly matched NMP's£50,000 donation to the community fundon behalf of itself and its two nuclear sitesin the county, Sellafield and the Low LevelWaste Repository, and added financialsupport to the pre-Christmas Open forBusiness campaign.

Currently the NDA is also looking tofund community projects that cannot befunded through normal routes.

Brian said: “There will always beprojects that don’t fit other fundingcriteria but would a great boost to thelocal community.

“We are keen to help where we can andthe project team is actively identifyingparticular needs that we may be able tohelp with. They aren’t the big ticket itemsbut smaller community based work thatwill help get community life back on trackand provide a much needed moraleboost.

“As a local industry, with many of ourstaff directly and indirectly affected, wewanted to help as much as we can. Thatsupport has come in many ways and asa partnership we will continue to beinvolved in supporting the long termrecovery effort.”

NNOVEMBER2009: The RiverDerwent floodingCockermouth

24

Community Renewable Energy NorthWest is developing a plant on theThe Blackdyke Idustrial Estate at

Silloth which will take 40,000tonnes of waste from 15 farms to

generate the equivalent of onemegawatt of waste a year

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

A NEW study for Cumbria Visionshowed that the anaerobic

digestion of farms wastes suchas slurry, silage and chickenmanure has the potential to

general 50 megawatts of energypartly for electricity and partlyfor heat, and support up to 400

jobs by the middle of the century

WATT’S THE DEAL

25

RITAIN’S EnergyCoast™ will needa highly skilledworkforce if it isto remain at theforefront of en-ergy technology.

So in Barrow, aswell as major physical developments likethe future Marina Village and the Water-front Business Park, the urban regenera-tion company steering the masterplan,Barrow Regeneration, is leading on workto attract and retain highly-skilled youngpeople in Furness.

Statistics show young people attracted tothe bright lights are leaving Furness tolive and work in other areas. The TalentedMinds programme put together byBarrow Regeneration is attempting toarrest the brain drain.

The £2m three-year programme issupported by Northwest

Regional DevelopmentAgency money and covers

a clutch of different pro-jects embracing everything

from school children tosports activities and

supporting our youngprofessionals.Project Manager Nicola

Foster said “ Talented Minds isall about celebrating our

assets. Barrow has got a lotto offer young people. Wehave world-class job oppor-

tunities such as those in sub-marine design and building, a

brilliant community spirit, it’s easier toget on the property ladder, we are surroun-ded by beautiful beaches, and the LakeDistrict is just next door.”

As well as working with graduates andapprentices, encouraging them to move toor stay in Barrow, the Talented Minds alsoworks with school-age children. By thetime major physical developments such asthe Marina Village are complete, theschool children will be young adults and akey target market for the development.

Nicola said: “It is important that youngpeople feel involved in these developmentsand that they live up to this generation’sexpectations.

“We are working with young people totry and get them involved in the town’sregeneration. We want young people to beproud of their town. We’ve worked withevery secondary school in Barrow as wellas Dowdales in Dalton and UlverstonVictoria High School.”

Barrow Regeneration commissionedresearch into skills retention in Furnessand West Cumbria.

One area the research highlighted asimportant to the attraction and retentionof young people was a town’s culturaloffer. As a result the programme is sup-porting organisations such as The AshtonTheatre Group, Dare Dance and SignalFilms. The town’s enterprise agency,Furness Enterprise, is also involved.

B

TALENTED MINDS:The Youth Reaction

team in all their glory

TALENTED:Projectmanager ofTalentedMindsNicolaFoster

YOUNG SKILLSBY JOHN SIMPSON

Young and gifted

I love working on Britain’s Energy Coast™because...

It has loads going for it! There is so muchdiversity in the landscape, the towns andvillages, the people and the opportunities indifferent industrial sectors that it is hard to getbored. In one day alone you can go frommountains, lakes and villages to towns,beaches and parks. You can wake up and findhigh street shopping or a 100-year-oldboutique shop within easy reach!

Describe your commute to work...A relaxing scenic drive listening to Radio 4 in

my trusty old Astra, along the coastal routefrom Ulverston to Barrow. This is quitepossibly my favourite road in Britain!

What’s Cumbria's best kept secret...Black Moss Pot in the Langstrath Valley and

the beautiful sandy beaches at Roanhead.When I am not working my perfect day in

Cumbria is...Whizzing into Bar-

row for a quick bit ofretail therapy, thena walk (and swim ifit’s a warm day) inthe Lakes to aclassic favourite ofmine like Beacon Tarn (or if I have more time alonger walk along the river in LangstrathValley) with my boyfriend and a packed lunchfrom one of Ulverston’s fab delis. Then backto Ulverston for chips from the Chippy Bankand a Prosecco in the Wine Bar with friendsand work colleagues before finishing the nightoff with an independent film at the Roxy.

My favourite place in the whole ofCumbria is....

The woods and beach at ConisheadPriory.

My favourite outdoor pursuit is...Walking (with my camera at the ready).My favourite three-course Cumbrian

meal is...Not really three-course but I’m a sucker for

chips and mushy peas from the Chippy Bankin Ulverston or the good vegetarian food at theTemple Thai!

My favourite drink is...A glass of wine by the fire in the Rose &

Crown in Ulverston on a winter’s evening.My favourite place to eat out is...The Mason’s Arms.If someone from abroad had never been

to Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be...

The variety of towns and countryside in easyreach.

LOREN SLATER, 33,co-director of Signal

Films, a Barrow-basednot-for-profit film and

digital mediaproduction and

training company

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

FAVOURITE: Beacon Tarn

THE CHIPPY BANK

Half of thecounty’s

woodland iseither under or

unmanaged.This could

yield 40,000tonnes ofwoodfuelper year

24

Community Renewable Energy NorthWest is developing a plant on theThe Blackdyke Idustrial Estate at

Silloth which will take 40,000tonnes of waste from 15 farms to

generate the equivalent of onemegawatt of waste a year

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

A NEW study for Cumbria Visionshowed that the anaerobic

digestion of farms wastes suchas slurry, silage and chickenmanure has the potential to

general 50 megawatts of energypartly for electricity and partlyfor heat, and support up to 400

jobs by the middle of the century

WATT’S THE DEAL

25

RITAIN’S EnergyCoast™ will needa highly skilledworkforce if it isto remain at theforefront of en-ergy technology.

So in Barrow, aswell as major physical developments likethe future Marina Village and the Water-front Business Park, the urban regenera-tion company steering the masterplan,Barrow Regeneration, is leading on workto attract and retain highly-skilled youngpeople in Furness.

Statistics show young people attracted tothe bright lights are leaving Furness tolive and work in other areas. The TalentedMinds programme put together byBarrow Regeneration is attempting toarrest the brain drain.

The £2m three-year programme issupported by Northwest

Regional DevelopmentAgency money and covers

a clutch of different pro-jects embracing everything

from school children tosports activities and

supporting our youngprofessionals.Project Manager Nicola

Foster said “ Talented Minds isall about celebrating our

assets. Barrow has got a lotto offer young people. Wehave world-class job oppor-

tunities such as those in sub-marine design and building, a

brilliant community spirit, it’s easier toget on the property ladder, we are surroun-ded by beautiful beaches, and the LakeDistrict is just next door.”

As well as working with graduates andapprentices, encouraging them to move toor stay in Barrow, the Talented Minds alsoworks with school-age children. By thetime major physical developments such asthe Marina Village are complete, theschool children will be young adults and akey target market for the development.

Nicola said: “It is important that youngpeople feel involved in these developmentsand that they live up to this generation’sexpectations.

“We are working with young people totry and get them involved in the town’sregeneration. We want young people to beproud of their town. We’ve worked withevery secondary school in Barrow as wellas Dowdales in Dalton and UlverstonVictoria High School.”

Barrow Regeneration commissionedresearch into skills retention in Furnessand West Cumbria.

One area the research highlighted asimportant to the attraction and retentionof young people was a town’s culturaloffer. As a result the programme is sup-porting organisations such as The AshtonTheatre Group, Dare Dance and SignalFilms. The town’s enterprise agency,Furness Enterprise, is also involved.

B

TALENTED MINDS:The Youth Reaction

team in all their glory

TALENTED:Projectmanager ofTalentedMindsNicolaFoster

YOUNG SKILLSBY JOHN SIMPSON

Young and gifted

I love working on Britain’s Energy Coast™because...

It has loads going for it! There is so muchdiversity in the landscape, the towns andvillages, the people and the opportunities indifferent industrial sectors that it is hard to getbored. In one day alone you can go frommountains, lakes and villages to towns,beaches and parks. You can wake up and findhigh street shopping or a 100-year-oldboutique shop within easy reach!

Describe your commute to work...A relaxing scenic drive listening to Radio 4 in

my trusty old Astra, along the coastal routefrom Ulverston to Barrow. This is quitepossibly my favourite road in Britain!

What’s Cumbria's best kept secret...Black Moss Pot in the Langstrath Valley and

the beautiful sandy beaches at Roanhead.When I am not working my perfect day in

Cumbria is...Whizzing into Bar-

row for a quick bit ofretail therapy, thena walk (and swim ifit’s a warm day) inthe Lakes to aclassic favourite ofmine like Beacon Tarn (or if I have more time alonger walk along the river in LangstrathValley) with my boyfriend and a packed lunchfrom one of Ulverston’s fab delis. Then backto Ulverston for chips from the Chippy Bankand a Prosecco in the Wine Bar with friendsand work colleagues before finishing the nightoff with an independent film at the Roxy.

My favourite place in the whole ofCumbria is....

The woods and beach at ConisheadPriory.

My favourite outdoor pursuit is...Walking (with my camera at the ready).My favourite three-course Cumbrian

meal is...Not really three-course but I’m a sucker for

chips and mushy peas from the Chippy Bankin Ulverston or the good vegetarian food at theTemple Thai!

My favourite drink is...A glass of wine by the fire in the Rose &

Crown in Ulverston on a winter’s evening.My favourite place to eat out is...The Mason’s Arms.If someone from abroad had never been

to Cumbria before the one thing I would tellthem was the greatest aspect of living andworking around here would be...

The variety of towns and countryside in easyreach.

LOREN SLATER, 33,co-director of Signal

Films, a Barrow-basednot-for-profit film and

digital mediaproduction and

training company

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

FAVOURITE: Beacon Tarn

THE CHIPPY BANK

Half of thecounty’s

woodland iseither under or

unmanaged.This could

yield 40,000tonnes ofwoodfuelper year

MERICAN giantsEnergySolutionsis banking onplaying a key rolein the UK nuclearrenaissance.

Much of it is atSellafield, within

striking distance of the global company’sWest Cumbrian base at Westlakes SciencePark.

Mike Travis, with loads of experience atSellafield as well as Chapelcross andDounreay, has his eye very much on theEnergy Coast ball.

As a Cumbrian himself, Mike would likenothing better both personally and profes-sionally than to see EnergySolutions playa full role in the development of newelectricity generating reactors on his oldSellafield stomping ground.

Mike’s mantra is: Out with the Old, Inwith the New. “I can see good timesahead,” he declares.

EnergySolutions, with its global base inthe United States, already manages theUK’s 10 Magnox power nuclear powerstations.

New power stations are on the horizon,but EnergySolutions is in the moreimmediate spotlight for its determinationto help solve one of the nation’s biggestand most pressing nuclear needs – dispos-ing of radioactive waste – or more specific-ally the very lowest levels of it (VLLW),much of it produced at Sellafield.

One of the earliest solutions may befound not far away at the Lillyhall landfillsite near Distington, largely used in thepast for conventional household andindustrial rubbish. EnergySolutions is inpartnership with Waste Recycling Groupto dispose of future arisings of VLLW onpart of the Lillyhall expanse.

This is an area of the nuclear businesswhere it has demonstrated an impressivetrack record. The international com-pany’s operations are supported by aproven waste manufacture infrastructurebased in the USA at large low level wasteprocessing sites at Bear Creak, Tennessee,and disposal sites at Clive, Utah.

Says Mike from his Westlakes base inCopeland: “Our guys have a lot of experi-ence in managing low level and very lowlevel radioactive waste and as far as Lilly-hall is converted we have submitted anenvironmental safety case for disposal onthe site.

“The Environment Agency is broadlyhappy with it, the county council says wedo not need planning permission.”

This is because in the past Lillyhallhas already received similar types ofmaterial.

“It’s all quite legitimate,” said MikeTravis, “because under existing legisla-tion there are 3,000 tones of what we callNORM waste there – naturally occurringradioactive material.

“The legislation changed in 2007 with there-issuing of government policy on radio-active waste management so to comply wehave to apply for an environmental safetycase and receive an authorisation.”

26 27

NUCLEAR

AWe have the solutions

CUMBRIA is second only to Cornwall inthe UK in its potential for energy fromunder the ground. The geothermal flux

holds potential for large scale geothermalenergy systems which inject water down

into the ground where it is heated toproduce steam which then drives turbines

to generate electricity

WAVE power has it limitson the Cumbrian Coastbecause the powerful

Atlantic swell does notpenetrate the land lockedIrish Sea according to theThe Scope for RenewableEnergy in Cumbria report

by Sir Martin Holdgate

WATT’S THE DEAL

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

SOLAR energy could generatebetween 40 and 100MW of power

and support up to 1,300 jobs ifphotovoltaic (solar to electric) and

solar thermal (solar to heat)systems achieve the same levels

of penetration in Cumbria as in theUnited States, German, Austria

and Scandinavia. (Cumbria Vision)

Mike believes that Lillyhall, 15 milesaway, fits the county council bill that anynew sites should be as close to Sellafield aspossible. Community benefits are likely toarise from future use of Lillyhall.

Says Mike: “We have met with the coun-cils, borough and parish, and we are look-ing to provide some financial benefits forthe community based on the amount ofmaterial involved.”

“It would be left to the local councils to

decide how best the money could be spentto best benefit the community.”

“My personal view is that having hadthe nuclear industry here for more thanhalf a century we should be proud ofthe way we as a Copeland\Allerdalecommunity can actually manage thesewastes so professionally.”

What would he like to see happening infive years time? – “Right here in CopelandI’d like to see a new nuclear power

station under construction, maybe morethan one down here at Sellafield; a lot oflocal labour being used and EnergySolutions playing its part – not in thebuilding, but with other aspects such asdesign, commissioning, safety cases,licensing, design and helping other bigplayers get the planned stations through-planning consent; also us helpingNuclear Management Partners withdecommissioning Sellafield.”

HAVING THE SOLUTIONS: EnergySolutions Mike Travis has lots of experience at Sellafield as well as Chapelcross and Dounreay

"Having had the nuclear industry here for more thanhalf a century we should be proud of the way we as a

Copeland\Allerdale community can actuallymanage these wastes so professionally”

NE of the keys to West Cumbriaachieving its ambitious plan to be-come Britain’s Energy Coast™ isits ability to supply a first classworkforce with the necessary spe-cialist skills and expertise in the

low-carbon and nuclear energy industries.We need to draw on the existing skills of the current

generation of skilled engineers and managers, but if weaspire to an international reputation for our economythen we also can, and should, bring in the best people fromall over the world. The real key, however, will be to makesure we have the capacity to develop the skills in our homegrown workforce for the technologies that will power thecountry and our economy.

In 2008, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority andthe University of Cumbria began a collaboration to put inplace the foundations for creating a workforce capabilitythat can drive through and sustain the Britain’s EnergyCoast™ Masterplan.

A partnership of further education, higher educationand specialised vocational training has come together atLillyhall in West Cumbria to create a centre for learningexcellence under the umbrella name of Britain’s EnergyCoast™ Campus. The longer term aim is to extend that

approach throughout West Cumbria covering the educa-tion, learning, skills and research sectors.

The Universities of Cumbria and Central Lancashire areproviding learning opportunities in West Cumbria now.Lancaster and Manchester Universities are aiming to addto the research capacity. The National Nuclear Laborat-ory is also based here. Collaborations with Lakes College,Energus and GenII should ensure that we can provide acomplete learning and training journey from schoolthrough further and higher education and vocational inwork training to fit the opportunities of the economy.

Since its opening last summer, Energus has been a basefor providing skills excellence that spans further andhigher education for the nuclear, renewable energy andenvironmental restoration industries.

A total of 150 apprentices are already receiving world-class training in unparalleled facilities at Energus. Ener-gus is also home now to the University of Cumbria andalready 200 students have either started degree courses orbenefited from specialist short courses at the Universityof Cumbria at Lillyhall. The LEAD programme for man-agers and leaders in our local businesses is up and

running and a programme of short courses are soon tocommence at Energus (see advert below). Over the nextfive years we can expect to see further developments inlearning and training opportunities as part of Britain’sEnergy Coast™ Campus, including:

● This year will see the formal launch, led by NuclearManagement Partners, of the Centre of Leadership Devel-opment helping to nurture the very best in managementand leadership skills.

● Britain’s Energy Coast™ team and Lakes College areworking on plans to create a new construction trainingcentre to ensure that we have the skilled workers toemploy the latest techniques and technologies in sustain-able building this century.

● Energus are leading on developing the right accom-modation solutions for students, researchers and man-agers.

● The University of Manchester in partnership withthe Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will developadditional facilities for research at West Lakes SciencePark.

● The University of Central Lancashire recently re-opened its higher education facilities following a majorrefurbishment.

● The new £100m West Cumberland Hospital willinclude specialist areas for training and research.

O EDUCATION

Britain’s EnergyCoast™ campus

STATE OF THE ART:The Energus site

MERICAN giantsEnergySolutionsis banking onplaying a key rolein the UK nuclearrenaissance.

Much of it is atSellafield, within

striking distance of the global company’sWest Cumbrian base at Westlakes SciencePark.

Mike Travis, with loads of experience atSellafield as well as Chapelcross andDounreay, has his eye very much on theEnergy Coast ball.

As a Cumbrian himself, Mike would likenothing better both personally and profes-sionally than to see EnergySolutions playa full role in the development of newelectricity generating reactors on his oldSellafield stomping ground.

Mike’s mantra is: Out with the Old, Inwith the New. “I can see good timesahead,” he declares.

EnergySolutions, with its global base inthe United States, already manages theUK’s 10 Magnox power nuclear powerstations.

New power stations are on the horizon,but EnergySolutions is in the moreimmediate spotlight for its determinationto help solve one of the nation’s biggestand most pressing nuclear needs – dispos-ing of radioactive waste – or more specific-ally the very lowest levels of it (VLLW),much of it produced at Sellafield.

One of the earliest solutions may befound not far away at the Lillyhall landfillsite near Distington, largely used in thepast for conventional household andindustrial rubbish. EnergySolutions is inpartnership with Waste Recycling Groupto dispose of future arisings of VLLW onpart of the Lillyhall expanse.

This is an area of the nuclear businesswhere it has demonstrated an impressivetrack record. The international com-pany’s operations are supported by aproven waste manufacture infrastructurebased in the USA at large low level wasteprocessing sites at Bear Creak, Tennessee,and disposal sites at Clive, Utah.

Says Mike from his Westlakes base inCopeland: “Our guys have a lot of experi-ence in managing low level and very lowlevel radioactive waste and as far as Lilly-hall is converted we have submitted anenvironmental safety case for disposal onthe site.

“The Environment Agency is broadlyhappy with it, the county council says wedo not need planning permission.”

This is because in the past Lillyhallhas already received similar types ofmaterial.

“It’s all quite legitimate,” said MikeTravis, “because under existing legisla-tion there are 3,000 tones of what we callNORM waste there – naturally occurringradioactive material.

“The legislation changed in 2007 with there-issuing of government policy on radio-active waste management so to comply wehave to apply for an environmental safetycase and receive an authorisation.”

26 27

NUCLEAR

AWe have the solutions

CUMBRIA is second only to Cornwall inthe UK in its potential for energy fromunder the ground. The geothermal flux

holds potential for large scale geothermalenergy systems which inject water down

into the ground where it is heated toproduce steam which then drives turbines

to generate electricity

WAVE power has it limitson the Cumbrian Coastbecause the powerful

Atlantic swell does notpenetrate the land lockedIrish Sea according to theThe Scope for RenewableEnergy in Cumbria report

by Sir Martin Holdgate

WATT’S THE DEAL

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

SOLAR energy could generatebetween 40 and 100MW of power

and support up to 1,300 jobs ifphotovoltaic (solar to electric) and

solar thermal (solar to heat)systems achieve the same levels

of penetration in Cumbria as in theUnited States, German, Austria

and Scandinavia. (Cumbria Vision)

Mike believes that Lillyhall, 15 milesaway, fits the county council bill that anynew sites should be as close to Sellafield aspossible. Community benefits are likely toarise from future use of Lillyhall.

Says Mike: “We have met with the coun-cils, borough and parish, and we are look-ing to provide some financial benefits forthe community based on the amount ofmaterial involved.”

“It would be left to the local councils to

decide how best the money could be spentto best benefit the community.”

“My personal view is that having hadthe nuclear industry here for more thanhalf a century we should be proud ofthe way we as a Copeland\Allerdalecommunity can actually manage thesewastes so professionally.”

What would he like to see happening infive years time? – “Right here in CopelandI’d like to see a new nuclear power

station under construction, maybe morethan one down here at Sellafield; a lot oflocal labour being used and EnergySolutions playing its part – not in thebuilding, but with other aspects such asdesign, commissioning, safety cases,licensing, design and helping other bigplayers get the planned stations through-planning consent; also us helpingNuclear Management Partners withdecommissioning Sellafield.”

HAVING THE SOLUTIONS: EnergySolutions Mike Travis has lots of experience at Sellafield as well as Chapelcross and Dounreay

"Having had the nuclear industry here for more thanhalf a century we should be proud of the way we as a

Copeland\Allerdale community can actuallymanage these wastes so professionally”

NE of the keys to West Cumbriaachieving its ambitious plan to be-come Britain’s Energy Coast™ isits ability to supply a first classworkforce with the necessary spe-cialist skills and expertise in the

low-carbon and nuclear energy industries.We need to draw on the existing skills of the current

generation of skilled engineers and managers, but if weaspire to an international reputation for our economythen we also can, and should, bring in the best people fromall over the world. The real key, however, will be to makesure we have the capacity to develop the skills in our homegrown workforce for the technologies that will power thecountry and our economy.

In 2008, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority andthe University of Cumbria began a collaboration to put inplace the foundations for creating a workforce capabilitythat can drive through and sustain the Britain’s EnergyCoast™ Masterplan.

A partnership of further education, higher educationand specialised vocational training has come together atLillyhall in West Cumbria to create a centre for learningexcellence under the umbrella name of Britain’s EnergyCoast™ Campus. The longer term aim is to extend that

approach throughout West Cumbria covering the educa-tion, learning, skills and research sectors.

The Universities of Cumbria and Central Lancashire areproviding learning opportunities in West Cumbria now.Lancaster and Manchester Universities are aiming to addto the research capacity. The National Nuclear Laborat-ory is also based here. Collaborations with Lakes College,Energus and GenII should ensure that we can provide acomplete learning and training journey from schoolthrough further and higher education and vocational inwork training to fit the opportunities of the economy.

Since its opening last summer, Energus has been a basefor providing skills excellence that spans further andhigher education for the nuclear, renewable energy andenvironmental restoration industries.

A total of 150 apprentices are already receiving world-class training in unparalleled facilities at Energus. Ener-gus is also home now to the University of Cumbria andalready 200 students have either started degree courses orbenefited from specialist short courses at the Universityof Cumbria at Lillyhall. The LEAD programme for man-agers and leaders in our local businesses is up and

running and a programme of short courses are soon tocommence at Energus (see advert below). Over the nextfive years we can expect to see further developments inlearning and training opportunities as part of Britain’sEnergy Coast™ Campus, including:

● This year will see the formal launch, led by NuclearManagement Partners, of the Centre of Leadership Devel-opment helping to nurture the very best in managementand leadership skills.

● Britain’s Energy Coast™ team and Lakes College areworking on plans to create a new construction trainingcentre to ensure that we have the skilled workers toemploy the latest techniques and technologies in sustain-able building this century.

● Energus are leading on developing the right accom-modation solutions for students, researchers and man-agers.

● The University of Manchester in partnership withthe Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will developadditional facilities for research at West Lakes SciencePark.

● The University of Central Lancashire recently re-opened its higher education facilities following a majorrefurbishment.

● The new £100m West Cumberland Hospital willinclude specialist areas for training and research.

O EDUCATION

Britain’s EnergyCoast™ campus

STATE OF THE ART:The Energus site

2928

AERIAL SURVEYING

HE birth of West Cum-bria as Britain’s EnergyCoast™ has not onlyattracted internationalcompanies, it hasenabled local firms to

become major players in thenational and international energyindustry.

Westlakes Science & Technology Park,near Whitehaven, is a hub for companiesinvolved in the energy market. It is alsohome to local firm HiDef.

The aerial surveying company beganmaking waves in the renewable energyindustry in its early days of businessthanks to its trail-blazing service.

With offshore wind farms moving to theforefront of renewable energy, this WestCumbrian business has designed pioneer-ing equipment and software which willrevolutionise the sector.

Its unique sophisticated digital videosystem is capable of resolving highlydetailed images of marine wildlife overhuge areas of proposed sites for offshorewind farms, offering surveying solutionsto the large energy companies.

HiDef’s cameras are fitted to speciallyadapted aircraft and operate at five timesthe resolution of high definition TV cam-eras. Flying at around 2,000ft, the camerassweep the sea and later the data isreviewed and analysed.

The business has already attracted inter-national interest including Spain, Por-tugal and China. But last summer sawHiDef land its first major contract withThe Crown Estate. To add to the goodnews, they went on to recruit 27 employeesonly a few weeks before Christmas.

Mark Robinson, business manager forHiDef, said: “Business is really taking offfor HiDef. Our service was designed toaddress fundamental problems in the wayin which the various statutory bodieswere forced to conduct environmentalimpact surveys.

“In essence the surveys are to cataloguebird and sea mammal activity over large

tracts of sea within UK territorial watersand the wider continental shelf, amount-ing to almost 40,000 sq km.

“We are in the process of negotiatingadditional contracts worth around £4mper annum, with more expected to roll inover the next 12 months.

“By April this year we hope to take on afurther 20 employees leading up to 100plus by the end of 2010 – all in a range ofroles from admin staff to reviewers.

“So this local workforce will play a majorrole within a company that has a stronginternational future. Five years down theline we expect to be number one in the UKand mainland Europe. We also plan tooperate from North America.

“The employment opportunities result-ing from this local firm and its servicescentered on the renewable energy ethos,fits entirely into the Energy Coastconcept.

“The surveying services that HiDefsupplies involves the recording of marinewildlife data in and around offshore windfarms.

“Previous data has been both variableand unreliable whereas our surveyingmethods are so accurate they can recordevery aspect of marine wildlife.

“We can also use our equipment forengineering maintenance and inspectionof onshore and offshore wind turbines.”

The new employees at HiDef have joineda team with extensive experience in aerialimaging, environmental monitoring andstatistical analysis.

Lee Williamson, 18, of Maryport, is a newrecruit with the firm and works as areviewer. He said: “I started here at HiDefat the end of October. I loved the idea ofbeing able to take a load of footage, break itdown into areas and times and then recordexactly what animal had been capturedthere at that precise moment.

“I’ve seen footage of pods of porpoisesand seals.”

Ex fireman Arthur Cullnean, 57, ofBowthorn, Cleator Moor, also started as areviewer at HiDef in October and said hisjob couldn’t be any more interesting.

He said: “It’s a really exciting time to behere at HiDef. It’s a great place to workbecause of the team.”

HiDef’s unique surveying services havebeen developed through a collaborationbetween React Engineering and WildcatFlying, which has aerial filming experi-ence from across five continents from theArctic to the Antarctic and was a keycontributor to the landmark BBC seriesPlanet Earth.

With an increasing number of contractsunder its belt, 2010 is sure to see HiDefdominate the UK market in renew-able energy aerial surveying.POWER TO

THE PEOPLETIDAL schemes across Morecambe Bay,the Duddon Estuary and the Solway Firth

could together produce a significantproportion of Britain’s energy. The

Renewable Energy Panel of Cumbria Visionsays that for environmental and wildlifereasons any such developments would

have to be restrained

A £1BN Duddon Estuarygenerating bridge would not onlygenerate power it would cut 17miles off the journey between

Barrow and West Cumbria makingit an important infrastructure tosupport any new nuclear powr

station and related Britain’sEnergy Coast™ developments

WATT’S THE DEAL

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

WORK is beginning on the design forthe £600m Gateway gas storagescheme 15 miles south west of

Barrow where giant salt carverns willbe leached out with chemicals under

the seabed to store gas in 2014.AMEC, Parsons Brinckerhoff andSenergy have been appointed to

undertake the design work

PAT GRAHAM, 36, Headof Development

Strategy, CopelandBorough Council

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

THEBEACON

ST BEESBEACH

I LOVE working on Britain’s EnergyCoast™ because...

This area is so unique, its has suchamazing economic opportunities set withina beautiful and historic landscape. Theenergy coast allows for the two to worktogether!

Describe yourcommute towork. I travelthough beautifulscenery and Iarrive in the bestpreserved Geor-gian town inEurope.

What’s Cum-bria’s best keptsecret?

The quieterwestern lakes.Dent’s yellow lemonade and Hartley’s icecream.

When I am not working my perfect dayin Cumbria is ...

A trip to the Beacon in the morning and thebeach at St Bees in the afternoon with thefamily and the dog (on a lead!).

My favourite place in the whole ofCumbria is ...

Ennerdale Lake.My favourite outdoor pursuit is ...Fell walking.My favourite three-course Cumbrian

meal is ...Veg soup, Cumberland sausage and mash

and apple crumble with local apples andHartley’s ice cream.

My favourite drink is ...Dent’s yellow lemonade.My favourite place to eat out is ...The Yew, Dean.If someone from abroad had never been

to Cumbria before the one thing I wouldtell them was the greatest aspect of livingand working around here would be...

The people. We love to show off and talkabout what a great place Copeland is, thereis something for everybody here and wewant people to appreciate this area asmuch as we do and are always willing tohelp visitors maximize their local visitorexperience.

High-flying company

TBY CLARE KINRADE

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

”Five years down the line weexpect to be number one in theUK and mainland Europe”

AIMING HIGH: HiDef BusinessDevelopment manager

Mark Robinson

IN THE AIR: A HiDef aerial survey over part of the Cumbrian coast

NATASHA COLLINS, 38,PA, Centrica Energy,

HRL, MorecambeTASTY: Good local steak

I LOVE working on Britain’s EnergyCoast™ because...

It is so diverse and fast paced; the work isconstantly changing to meet new de-mands.

Describe your commute to work...Drop off children at school (or breakfast

club) first then drive.What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...Cinderbarrow – a wonderful volunteer-run

steam train/picnic area, out of Carnforth.The settings are beautiful and it is runvoluntarily by ex-British Rail workers, kidslove it.

When I am not working my perfect dayin Cumbria is...

Spending it with my three kids and hus-band, doing something fun.

My favourite place in the whole of Cum-bria is...

Grizedale Forest.My favourite outdoor pursuit is...Biking/jogging.My favourite three-course Cum-

brian meal is...Garlic mushrooms/good local

steak/ cheesecake.My favourite drink is...Premium lager on a warm day or red wine

on a cold day.My favourite place to eat out is...The Burough in Lancaster.If someone from abroad had never been

to Cumbria before the one thing I wouldtell them was the greatest aspect of livingand working around here would be.....

Being so close to the wonderful LakeDistrict, with some much to see and do.

Science today, solutions tomorrowT Bees School is the schoolof choice if your childrenhave aspirations tobecome a member of the‘nuclear family’, be theyscientists, engineers, ra-

diological protection officers orany other profession the industrywill require.

Established in 1583, the school is set inthe heart of St Bees Village. We are a co-educational day and boarding school, tak-ing day pupils from 7-18 and boardersfrom 11-18. With around 300 pupils and

small classes, we are able to develop theindividual talents of our pupils, concen-trating on personal development and pas-toral care.

We encourage and nurture academicexcellence and have an excellent record ofsuccess at GCSE and A Level, plus entry toOxbridge and Higher Education.

The school’s Sixth Form itself hasaround 100 pupils and is the ideal place tospend the transition years between the

very structured GCSE courses and thefreedoms of University.

All pupils are allocated a Personal Tutorwho is responsible for their academic andsocial well being during the whole of theirSixth Form career. Each individual re-ceives personal mentoring throughout theUniversity Application Process.

To all pupils we offer a full and variedprogramme of sports, music and drama,allowing each member of our school theopportunity to discover their strengthsand gain maximum enjoyment from thefacilities and care we offer.

An excellent Learning Support Unit

(CReSTeD registered) is available for pu-pils with dyslexia and dyscalculia.

Bursaries for children attending St BeesSchool are available for day, weekly, fulland flexi boarding places. When agreed,bursaries range from £500 per annum to100 per cent of the school fees.

For further information please contact;admissions@st-bees-school.co.uk

Tel: 01946 828010 or see our websitewww.st-bees-school.org

Please refer to the back page of thispublication for information regardingdates of our forthcoming Entrance Examsand Music Scholarship Auditions.

S EDUCATION

TOP CLASS: St Beesis the place to be forscience

Electricity – exploring grid routing optionsTWO heads are better than one…

When presented with the challenge of “how can Cum-bria solve the problem of an inadequate electricity net-work”, Britain’s Energy Coast West Cumbria has appliedthe old adage that two (or in this case, many) heads arebetter than one.

Without significant improvements to the grid, Cum-bria’s Energy Coast can forget all about becoming a majorhub for low carbon and renewable energy production anddistribution, along with all the associated jobs and busi-ness opportunities.

Because of this, for the past 18 months the energy coastteam has been working with experts covering the lengthand breadth of Cumbria to figure out the impact of

upgrading the grid in the county. Experts in the fields ofplanning, landscape impact appraisal, the natural en-vironment, economic regeneration and energy infra-structure came together to discuss potential new gridrouting options and raise any issues and concerns.

Although the group has no authority to make decisionsabout if, when, where or how the grid is upgraded – that isthe domain of National Grid – the work they have done sofar means that Cumbria is on the front foot.

Rosie Mathisen, Energy Opportunities Director, Bri-tain’s Energy Coast West Cumbria explains: “Workingcollaboratively with partners across Cumbria, we nowhave a picture of possible options from planning andtechnical perspectives. We’ve also been able to cut to the

chase and rule out options that are unlikely to go furtheror just aren’t appropriate, based on environmental andlandscape impact considerations.

Time is of the essence for Cumbria so it’s been critical totry and get answers to questions that we know will beasked. And this is just the start of things to come!

Looking to the future, the National Grid will conductany formal consultations as part of any planned work onthe grid.

Any plans will also be subject to the planning approvalprocesses laid down by the newly formed InfrastructurePlanning Commission. The Britain’s Energy Coast WestCumbria team will continue to work to ensure that what’sbest for Cumbria is at the top of the agenda.

2928

AERIAL SURVEYING

HE birth of West Cum-bria as Britain’s EnergyCoast™ has not onlyattracted internationalcompanies, it hasenabled local firms to

become major players in thenational and international energyindustry.

Westlakes Science & Technology Park,near Whitehaven, is a hub for companiesinvolved in the energy market. It is alsohome to local firm HiDef.

The aerial surveying company beganmaking waves in the renewable energyindustry in its early days of businessthanks to its trail-blazing service.

With offshore wind farms moving to theforefront of renewable energy, this WestCumbrian business has designed pioneer-ing equipment and software which willrevolutionise the sector.

Its unique sophisticated digital videosystem is capable of resolving highlydetailed images of marine wildlife overhuge areas of proposed sites for offshorewind farms, offering surveying solutionsto the large energy companies.

HiDef’s cameras are fitted to speciallyadapted aircraft and operate at five timesthe resolution of high definition TV cam-eras. Flying at around 2,000ft, the camerassweep the sea and later the data isreviewed and analysed.

The business has already attracted inter-national interest including Spain, Por-tugal and China. But last summer sawHiDef land its first major contract withThe Crown Estate. To add to the goodnews, they went on to recruit 27 employeesonly a few weeks before Christmas.

Mark Robinson, business manager forHiDef, said: “Business is really taking offfor HiDef. Our service was designed toaddress fundamental problems in the wayin which the various statutory bodieswere forced to conduct environmentalimpact surveys.

“In essence the surveys are to cataloguebird and sea mammal activity over large

tracts of sea within UK territorial watersand the wider continental shelf, amount-ing to almost 40,000 sq km.

“We are in the process of negotiatingadditional contracts worth around £4mper annum, with more expected to roll inover the next 12 months.

“By April this year we hope to take on afurther 20 employees leading up to 100plus by the end of 2010 – all in a range ofroles from admin staff to reviewers.

“So this local workforce will play a majorrole within a company that has a stronginternational future. Five years down theline we expect to be number one in the UKand mainland Europe. We also plan tooperate from North America.

“The employment opportunities result-ing from this local firm and its servicescentered on the renewable energy ethos,fits entirely into the Energy Coastconcept.

“The surveying services that HiDefsupplies involves the recording of marinewildlife data in and around offshore windfarms.

“Previous data has been both variableand unreliable whereas our surveyingmethods are so accurate they can recordevery aspect of marine wildlife.

“We can also use our equipment forengineering maintenance and inspectionof onshore and offshore wind turbines.”

The new employees at HiDef have joineda team with extensive experience in aerialimaging, environmental monitoring andstatistical analysis.

Lee Williamson, 18, of Maryport, is a newrecruit with the firm and works as areviewer. He said: “I started here at HiDefat the end of October. I loved the idea ofbeing able to take a load of footage, break itdown into areas and times and then recordexactly what animal had been capturedthere at that precise moment.

“I’ve seen footage of pods of porpoisesand seals.”

Ex fireman Arthur Cullnean, 57, ofBowthorn, Cleator Moor, also started as areviewer at HiDef in October and said hisjob couldn’t be any more interesting.

He said: “It’s a really exciting time to behere at HiDef. It’s a great place to workbecause of the team.”

HiDef’s unique surveying services havebeen developed through a collaborationbetween React Engineering and WildcatFlying, which has aerial filming experi-ence from across five continents from theArctic to the Antarctic and was a keycontributor to the landmark BBC seriesPlanet Earth.

With an increasing number of contractsunder its belt, 2010 is sure to see HiDefdominate the UK market in renew-able energy aerial surveying.POWER TO

THE PEOPLETIDAL schemes across Morecambe Bay,the Duddon Estuary and the Solway Firth

could together produce a significantproportion of Britain’s energy. The

Renewable Energy Panel of Cumbria Visionsays that for environmental and wildlifereasons any such developments would

have to be restrained

A £1BN Duddon Estuarygenerating bridge would not onlygenerate power it would cut 17miles off the journey between

Barrow and West Cumbria makingit an important infrastructure tosupport any new nuclear powr

station and related Britain’sEnergy Coast™ developments

WATT’S THE DEAL

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

WORK is beginning on the design forthe £600m Gateway gas storagescheme 15 miles south west of

Barrow where giant salt carverns willbe leached out with chemicals under

the seabed to store gas in 2014.AMEC, Parsons Brinckerhoff andSenergy have been appointed to

undertake the design work

PAT GRAHAM, 36, Headof Development

Strategy, CopelandBorough Council

WWW.BRITAINSENERGYCOAST.COM

THEBEACON

ST BEESBEACH

I LOVE working on Britain’s EnergyCoast™ because...

This area is so unique, its has suchamazing economic opportunities set withina beautiful and historic landscape. Theenergy coast allows for the two to worktogether!

Describe yourcommute towork. I travelthough beautifulscenery and Iarrive in the bestpreserved Geor-gian town inEurope.

What’s Cum-bria’s best keptsecret?

The quieterwestern lakes.Dent’s yellow lemonade and Hartley’s icecream.

When I am not working my perfect dayin Cumbria is ...

A trip to the Beacon in the morning and thebeach at St Bees in the afternoon with thefamily and the dog (on a lead!).

My favourite place in the whole ofCumbria is ...

Ennerdale Lake.My favourite outdoor pursuit is ...Fell walking.My favourite three-course Cumbrian

meal is ...Veg soup, Cumberland sausage and mash

and apple crumble with local apples andHartley’s ice cream.

My favourite drink is ...Dent’s yellow lemonade.My favourite place to eat out is ...The Yew, Dean.If someone from abroad had never been

to Cumbria before the one thing I wouldtell them was the greatest aspect of livingand working around here would be...

The people. We love to show off and talkabout what a great place Copeland is, thereis something for everybody here and wewant people to appreciate this area asmuch as we do and are always willing tohelp visitors maximize their local visitorexperience.

High-flying company

TBY CLARE KINRADE

POWERTO THEPEOPLE

”Five years down the line weexpect to be number one in theUK and mainland Europe”

AIMING HIGH: HiDef BusinessDevelopment manager

Mark Robinson

IN THE AIR: A HiDef aerial survey over part of the Cumbrian coast

NATASHA COLLINS, 38,PA, Centrica Energy,

HRL, MorecambeTASTY: Good local steak

I LOVE working on Britain’s EnergyCoast™ because...

It is so diverse and fast paced; the work isconstantly changing to meet new de-mands.

Describe your commute to work...Drop off children at school (or breakfast

club) first then drive.What’s Cumbria’s best kept secret...Cinderbarrow – a wonderful volunteer-run

steam train/picnic area, out of Carnforth.The settings are beautiful and it is runvoluntarily by ex-British Rail workers, kidslove it.

When I am not working my perfect dayin Cumbria is...

Spending it with my three kids and hus-band, doing something fun.

My favourite place in the whole of Cum-bria is...

Grizedale Forest.My favourite outdoor pursuit is...Biking/jogging.My favourite three-course Cum-

brian meal is...Garlic mushrooms/good local

steak/ cheesecake.My favourite drink is...Premium lager on a warm day or red wine

on a cold day.My favourite place to eat out is...The Burough in Lancaster.If someone from abroad had never been

to Cumbria before the one thing I wouldtell them was the greatest aspect of livingand working around here would be.....

Being so close to the wonderful LakeDistrict, with some much to see and do.

Science today, solutions tomorrowT Bees School is the schoolof choice if your childrenhave aspirations tobecome a member of the‘nuclear family’, be theyscientists, engineers, ra-

diological protection officers orany other profession the industrywill require.

Established in 1583, the school is set inthe heart of St Bees Village. We are a co-educational day and boarding school, tak-ing day pupils from 7-18 and boardersfrom 11-18. With around 300 pupils and

small classes, we are able to develop theindividual talents of our pupils, concen-trating on personal development and pas-toral care.

We encourage and nurture academicexcellence and have an excellent record ofsuccess at GCSE and A Level, plus entry toOxbridge and Higher Education.

The school’s Sixth Form itself hasaround 100 pupils and is the ideal place tospend the transition years between the

very structured GCSE courses and thefreedoms of University.

All pupils are allocated a Personal Tutorwho is responsible for their academic andsocial well being during the whole of theirSixth Form career. Each individual re-ceives personal mentoring throughout theUniversity Application Process.

To all pupils we offer a full and variedprogramme of sports, music and drama,allowing each member of our school theopportunity to discover their strengthsand gain maximum enjoyment from thefacilities and care we offer.

An excellent Learning Support Unit

(CReSTeD registered) is available for pu-pils with dyslexia and dyscalculia.

Bursaries for children attending St BeesSchool are available for day, weekly, fulland flexi boarding places. When agreed,bursaries range from £500 per annum to100 per cent of the school fees.

For further information please contact;admissions@st-bees-school.co.uk

Tel: 01946 828010 or see our websitewww.st-bees-school.org

Please refer to the back page of thispublication for information regardingdates of our forthcoming Entrance Examsand Music Scholarship Auditions.

S EDUCATION

TOP CLASS: St Beesis the place to be forscience

Electricity – exploring grid routing optionsTWO heads are better than one…

When presented with the challenge of “how can Cum-bria solve the problem of an inadequate electricity net-work”, Britain’s Energy Coast West Cumbria has appliedthe old adage that two (or in this case, many) heads arebetter than one.

Without significant improvements to the grid, Cum-bria’s Energy Coast can forget all about becoming a majorhub for low carbon and renewable energy production anddistribution, along with all the associated jobs and busi-ness opportunities.

Because of this, for the past 18 months the energy coastteam has been working with experts covering the lengthand breadth of Cumbria to figure out the impact of

upgrading the grid in the county. Experts in the fields ofplanning, landscape impact appraisal, the natural en-vironment, economic regeneration and energy infra-structure came together to discuss potential new gridrouting options and raise any issues and concerns.

Although the group has no authority to make decisionsabout if, when, where or how the grid is upgraded – that isthe domain of National Grid – the work they have done sofar means that Cumbria is on the front foot.

Rosie Mathisen, Energy Opportunities Director, Bri-tain’s Energy Coast West Cumbria explains: “Workingcollaboratively with partners across Cumbria, we nowhave a picture of possible options from planning andtechnical perspectives. We’ve also been able to cut to the

chase and rule out options that are unlikely to go furtheror just aren’t appropriate, based on environmental andlandscape impact considerations.

Time is of the essence for Cumbria so it’s been critical totry and get answers to questions that we know will beasked. And this is just the start of things to come!

Looking to the future, the National Grid will conductany formal consultations as part of any planned work onthe grid.

Any plans will also be subject to the planning approvalprocesses laid down by the newly formed InfrastructurePlanning Commission. The Britain’s Energy Coast WestCumbria team will continue to work to ensure that what’sbest for Cumbria is at the top of the agenda.

31

BILL POULSON, ManagingDirector of Sellafield Ltd, looks

back on the past12 months

Hunger for success at SellafieldTHE past 12 months have marked thebeginning of a new era for Sellafield

Ltd. And although the range ofsuccesses we’ve delivered on oursites is impressive, I believethere’s an equally importantachievement to celebrate.

We’ve established a solid base forprogress towards our aim of leadingthe world’s nuclear industry in safe,cost effective delivery of our highhazard reduction mission on behalfof the Nuclear DecommissioningAuthority and the UK taxpayer.

Successful partnership working,with the NDA and other stakeholders,

has been key to our success to date.We said that we would spend the first

year of the contract establishing thatstrong base for the organisation. We have

done just that. Working with the NDA andutilising the expertise within our parent

companies of NMP – URS, Amecand Areva – we have rigorously

examined our practices onour sites and agreed a one,

three and five year vis-ion for Sellafield Ltd.

We have set ourselvesa challenging butachievable target ofdelivering six yearsworth of work in justfive. Next year, wemust demonstrateincreasing valuefor the resourceswe consume anddeploy and anever more precise

operational protocol. We will face numerouschallenges and increasing pressure to deliver.But there is a hunger within Sellafield Ltd tobecome the compelling force for nuclear oper-ations, clean-up and risk reduction. We knowwe can do it. Over the past 12 months, we havedemonstrated our growing commitment todisciplined professionalism as we’ve:

● Transferred historic waste from a 50-year-old tank at Sellafield into high integritystorage;

● Carried out a programme of improve-ments in our fuel storage ponds;

● Completed our 5,000th container of highlevel solid waste within the vitrificationplant;

● Received RoSPA awards for outstanding

safety performance for Calder Hall andCapenhurst;

● Introduced engineering and businessadministration apprentices at Capenhurstand design apprentices at Risley for the firsttime in many years;

● Completed the sanctioning process for anew evaporator at Sellafield in record time.

These, and many other achievements overthe last twelve months, would not have beenpossible without the disciplined professional-ism of all of our teams, and the support andpartnership of the NDA, our unions, our localcommunities and world class supply chain.

And that’s just the start of the journey.We know that what we’re doing is vitally

important to the NDA’s national objectives.We’re confident that together we can suc-

ceed and become the site and workforce ofchoice for potential new missions.

BILL POULSONManaging Director

Sellafield Ltd

MASTERPLAN:Sellafieldmanaging

director BillPoulson

NEW ERA: Sellafield is on a mission to be a world leader in the nuclear industry

’We have disciplined, professional teams’

Big debate: radioactive wasteTHE UK is faced with the challenge ofmeeting ever increasing demands forenergy.

To address that challenge the governmenthas opted to promote nuclear power, and hasidentified three sites in West Cumbria aspossible locations for the construction of newnuclear reactors.

A new nuclear programme will require a planfor the management of radioactive waste.There are proposals for a geological reposit-ory for such waste, arising from the WhitePaper entitled Managing Radioactive WasteSafely.

Whose job is it?The government has decided that the

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will beresponsible for planning and implementingthe geological disposal of radioactive waste.The NDA has established a new RadioactiveWaste Management Directorate, which itwill develop into a delivery organisation forgeological disposal.

What type of waste will be disposed of?The White Paper deals with the manage-

ment of high level waste and intermediatelevel waste. High level waste is a highlyradioactive liquid that is a by-product of thereprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Undercurrent plans, the waste will be poured intostainless steel containers, which will be storedfor at least 50 years to allow them to coolbefore final disposal.

Some high level waste will remain radio-active for hundreds of thousands of years.Geological disposal is intended to isolate thiswaste inside a suitable rock formation toensure that no harmful quantities of radio-activity reach the surface. Such facilities arealready under construction in Finland, Franceand the USA.

Contractual arrangements and pricingThe intention is that the cost of waste

disposal should be met by the private sector.Private companies will have to negotiate suit-able contracts with the NDA or its deliveryorganisation to place their material in thefacility. Some commentators have cast doubton this strategy. Assurances that the privatesector will meet the full costs of wastedisposal have been described as “not cred-ible”. The private sector will wish to make aprofit whilst the taxpayer will not want to footthe bill for the associated cost. It remains to beseen how this tension will be resolved.

Regulation and planningAt present, the government believes no

further legislation is required for thegeological disposal of radioactive waste. Itwill be the responsibility of the NDA’s deliveryorganisation to ensure that the appropriatepermits and authorisations are obtained. Insimple terms, a geological disposal facility willrequire the following:

A nuclear site licence from the Health &Safety Executive under the Nuclear Installa-tions Act 1965.

JOHN NOCTOR heads theteam of lawyers at Burnetts

providing advice to theNuclear Decommissioning

Authority. John acted for theNDA on its acquisition of

United Kingdom NirexLimited, which now forms

the core of the RadioactiveWaste ManagementDirectorate. Here he

answers the big nuclearquestions

Authorisation from the Environment Agencyfor the disposal of radioactive waste underthe Radioactive Substances Act 1993.

European Commission approval that theinstallation will not adversely affect any othermember state.

A site specific security plan approved by theOffice for Civil Nuclear Security.

Agreement with the Safeguards Inspector-ate of the European Commission not to usecivil nuclear material for nuclear weapons.

Approval from the Department for TransportSafety Regulator for certain package designsand shipments.

A justification decision underthe Justification of Prac-tices Regulations 2004that the benefits of therepository outweighany detriment tohealth caused by ex-posure to radiation.

A StrategicEnvironmental

AssessmentAn Environmental

Impact Assessment.The NDA’s delivery

organisation willrequire planning per-mission for the devel-opment of a geologicalfacility. That decision islikely to fall to the new Infra-structure Planning Commissionset up under the Planning Act2008. There will be limitedopportunity to challengedecisions of the IPC.Any such chal-lengesmightbe

brought under the Convention on HumanRights, based on the perceived “democraticdeficit” in the Planning Act 2008. .

Site selectionThe White Paper sets out detailed provi-

sions for the selection and assessment of ageological facility. Local communities areinvited to submit “expressions of interest”.This means that communities can approachthe Government to explore the mutual bene-fits of siting the facility in their areas.

The government will then consider asignificant “benefits package” for the hostcommunity. So far, Copeland and Allerdale

Borough Councils together with CumbriaCounty Council have expressed an

interest.On 30 September 2009 the govern-ment wrote what is effectively a“reminder letter” to local authorit-

ies regarding expressions ofinterest. It remains to be seenwhether this will produce anyfurther response.

CommentThe government is adam-

ant that new nuclear powerstations are needed, so astrategy to deal with radioact-ive waste must be developed.At the moment, that presup-poses the construction of ageological waste facility.Time will tell where that is tobe sited, how much it will

cost, and whether it is indeed along-term solution.

30

Charity plays vital roleFLOOD RELIEF

by JOHN SIMPSONCUMBRIAN charity which got startedwith a £1m gift from Sellafield a dec-ade ago is playing an important role inthe aftermath of the county floods.

The Cumbria Community Foundation is alsohoping to make a significant contribution to

Britain’s Energy Coast™ over the coming years.A £2.5m gift to West Cumbria from new Sellafield operators,

the Nuclear Management Partners, which the foundation isadministering in a partnership with others, is primed to helpWest Cumbrian people – particularly the least advantaged –to upskill and get better jobs and incomes and share in thehoped for new energy boom. It is being spent at the rate of£500k-a-year.

The Cumbria Community Foundation was born in 1999.That original £1m pump priming gift from Sellafield wasinvested as the seedcorn to yield grant money from theincome it created. It has been steadily added to by contribu-tions from companies and organisations around Cumbria asmembership has grown.

Its grants to help individuals and organisations hit by thefloods are making a real input to the county’s recovery and toraising crestfallen spirits.

The Cumbria Community Foundation honed its operatingstyle in emergencies with work in earlier horrors includingthe county’s foot-and-mouth scourge in 2001. It distributedjust over £2m in grants to those most damaged by the dreadfuldisease including farmers, agricultural contractors and tour-ism businesses.

It again sprang into crisis mode after the devastating floodsin the Carlisle area in 2005 when it gave aid totalling morethan £800,000 to victims.

Grants from the Foundation are now helping to makebetween 150 and 200 homes and buildings hit by the Novemberdeluge “flood resilient” for the future with measures rangingfrom raising position of electric sockets, to “tanking” whichdefends properties from water seeping up underneath them.

The greatest amount of aid as expected as been in NorthCumbria in the Workington and Cockermouth areas, butrelief has also gone to badly hit South Lakeland spotsincluding Ulverston.

Cumbria Community Foundation grants officer David An-drews said that at the end of |January 492 of the 534 individualgrants applied for had gone through of which 427 were inAllerdale, 58 were in South Lakeland, four were in Copelandand one was in Dalton in the borough of Barrow.

GlaxoSmithKline which has its antibiotics factory in Ulver-ston gave £10,000. By the end of January the Foundation’sFlood Recovery Fund had passed £1.8m and was headed for£2m. Grants averaged £800 and included in some cases moneyto help people like shopkeepers who had been hit by the floodsand had no income coming in.

Community groups prove to be social glue that holdssocieties together in a crisis says Deb Muscat, a grantsdevelopment officer with the Foundation.

While the Flood Recovery fund is the headline of themoment she is very much involved with the NMP CommunityFund which will align with the Britain’s EnergyCoast™ programme.

ACUMBRIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: Deb Muscat, left,and Annalee Holliday, admin assistant, with some donationsto the fund JONATHAN BECKER 0010948F001.JPG

UNDER WATER:The floods inUlverston lastNovember

31

BILL POULSON, ManagingDirector of Sellafield Ltd, looks

back on the past12 months

Hunger for success at SellafieldTHE past 12 months have marked thebeginning of a new era for Sellafield

Ltd. And although the range ofsuccesses we’ve delivered on oursites is impressive, I believethere’s an equally importantachievement to celebrate.

We’ve established a solid base forprogress towards our aim of leadingthe world’s nuclear industry in safe,cost effective delivery of our highhazard reduction mission on behalfof the Nuclear DecommissioningAuthority and the UK taxpayer.

Successful partnership working,with the NDA and other stakeholders,

has been key to our success to date.We said that we would spend the first

year of the contract establishing thatstrong base for the organisation. We have

done just that. Working with the NDA andutilising the expertise within our parent

companies of NMP – URS, Amecand Areva – we have rigorously

examined our practices onour sites and agreed a one,

three and five year vis-ion for Sellafield Ltd.

We have set ourselvesa challenging butachievable target ofdelivering six yearsworth of work in justfive. Next year, wemust demonstrateincreasing valuefor the resourceswe consume anddeploy and anever more precise

operational protocol. We will face numerouschallenges and increasing pressure to deliver.But there is a hunger within Sellafield Ltd tobecome the compelling force for nuclear oper-ations, clean-up and risk reduction. We knowwe can do it. Over the past 12 months, we havedemonstrated our growing commitment todisciplined professionalism as we’ve:

● Transferred historic waste from a 50-year-old tank at Sellafield into high integritystorage;

● Carried out a programme of improve-ments in our fuel storage ponds;

● Completed our 5,000th container of highlevel solid waste within the vitrificationplant;

● Received RoSPA awards for outstanding

safety performance for Calder Hall andCapenhurst;

● Introduced engineering and businessadministration apprentices at Capenhurstand design apprentices at Risley for the firsttime in many years;

● Completed the sanctioning process for anew evaporator at Sellafield in record time.

These, and many other achievements overthe last twelve months, would not have beenpossible without the disciplined professional-ism of all of our teams, and the support andpartnership of the NDA, our unions, our localcommunities and world class supply chain.

And that’s just the start of the journey.We know that what we’re doing is vitally

important to the NDA’s national objectives.We’re confident that together we can suc-

ceed and become the site and workforce ofchoice for potential new missions.

BILL POULSONManaging Director

Sellafield Ltd

MASTERPLAN:Sellafieldmanaging

director BillPoulson

NEW ERA: Sellafield is on a mission to be a world leader in the nuclear industry

’We have disciplined, professional teams’

Big debate: radioactive wasteTHE UK is faced with the challenge ofmeeting ever increasing demands forenergy.

To address that challenge the governmenthas opted to promote nuclear power, and hasidentified three sites in West Cumbria aspossible locations for the construction of newnuclear reactors.

A new nuclear programme will require a planfor the management of radioactive waste.There are proposals for a geological reposit-ory for such waste, arising from the WhitePaper entitled Managing Radioactive WasteSafely.

Whose job is it?The government has decided that the

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will beresponsible for planning and implementingthe geological disposal of radioactive waste.The NDA has established a new RadioactiveWaste Management Directorate, which itwill develop into a delivery organisation forgeological disposal.

What type of waste will be disposed of?The White Paper deals with the manage-

ment of high level waste and intermediatelevel waste. High level waste is a highlyradioactive liquid that is a by-product of thereprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Undercurrent plans, the waste will be poured intostainless steel containers, which will be storedfor at least 50 years to allow them to coolbefore final disposal.

Some high level waste will remain radio-active for hundreds of thousands of years.Geological disposal is intended to isolate thiswaste inside a suitable rock formation toensure that no harmful quantities of radio-activity reach the surface. Such facilities arealready under construction in Finland, Franceand the USA.

Contractual arrangements and pricingThe intention is that the cost of waste

disposal should be met by the private sector.Private companies will have to negotiate suit-able contracts with the NDA or its deliveryorganisation to place their material in thefacility. Some commentators have cast doubton this strategy. Assurances that the privatesector will meet the full costs of wastedisposal have been described as “not cred-ible”. The private sector will wish to make aprofit whilst the taxpayer will not want to footthe bill for the associated cost. It remains to beseen how this tension will be resolved.

Regulation and planningAt present, the government believes no

further legislation is required for thegeological disposal of radioactive waste. Itwill be the responsibility of the NDA’s deliveryorganisation to ensure that the appropriatepermits and authorisations are obtained. Insimple terms, a geological disposal facility willrequire the following:

A nuclear site licence from the Health &Safety Executive under the Nuclear Installa-tions Act 1965.

JOHN NOCTOR heads theteam of lawyers at Burnetts

providing advice to theNuclear Decommissioning

Authority. John acted for theNDA on its acquisition of

United Kingdom NirexLimited, which now forms

the core of the RadioactiveWaste ManagementDirectorate. Here he

answers the big nuclearquestions

Authorisation from the Environment Agencyfor the disposal of radioactive waste underthe Radioactive Substances Act 1993.

European Commission approval that theinstallation will not adversely affect any othermember state.

A site specific security plan approved by theOffice for Civil Nuclear Security.

Agreement with the Safeguards Inspector-ate of the European Commission not to usecivil nuclear material for nuclear weapons.

Approval from the Department for TransportSafety Regulator for certain package designsand shipments.

A justification decision underthe Justification of Prac-tices Regulations 2004that the benefits of therepository outweighany detriment tohealth caused by ex-posure to radiation.

A StrategicEnvironmental

AssessmentAn Environmental

Impact Assessment.The NDA’s delivery

organisation willrequire planning per-mission for the devel-opment of a geologicalfacility. That decision islikely to fall to the new Infra-structure Planning Commissionset up under the Planning Act2008. There will be limitedopportunity to challengedecisions of the IPC.Any such chal-lengesmightbe

brought under the Convention on HumanRights, based on the perceived “democraticdeficit” in the Planning Act 2008. .

Site selectionThe White Paper sets out detailed provi-

sions for the selection and assessment of ageological facility. Local communities areinvited to submit “expressions of interest”.This means that communities can approachthe Government to explore the mutual bene-fits of siting the facility in their areas.

The government will then consider asignificant “benefits package” for the hostcommunity. So far, Copeland and Allerdale

Borough Councils together with CumbriaCounty Council have expressed an

interest.On 30 September 2009 the govern-ment wrote what is effectively a“reminder letter” to local authorit-

ies regarding expressions ofinterest. It remains to be seenwhether this will produce anyfurther response.

CommentThe government is adam-

ant that new nuclear powerstations are needed, so astrategy to deal with radioact-ive waste must be developed.At the moment, that presup-poses the construction of ageological waste facility.Time will tell where that is tobe sited, how much it will

cost, and whether it is indeed along-term solution.

30

Charity plays vital roleFLOOD RELIEF

by JOHN SIMPSONCUMBRIAN charity which got startedwith a £1m gift from Sellafield a dec-ade ago is playing an important role inthe aftermath of the county floods.

The Cumbria Community Foundation is alsohoping to make a significant contribution to

Britain’s Energy Coast™ over the coming years.A £2.5m gift to West Cumbria from new Sellafield operators,

the Nuclear Management Partners, which the foundation isadministering in a partnership with others, is primed to helpWest Cumbrian people – particularly the least advantaged –to upskill and get better jobs and incomes and share in thehoped for new energy boom. It is being spent at the rate of£500k-a-year.

The Cumbria Community Foundation was born in 1999.That original £1m pump priming gift from Sellafield wasinvested as the seedcorn to yield grant money from theincome it created. It has been steadily added to by contribu-tions from companies and organisations around Cumbria asmembership has grown.

Its grants to help individuals and organisations hit by thefloods are making a real input to the county’s recovery and toraising crestfallen spirits.

The Cumbria Community Foundation honed its operatingstyle in emergencies with work in earlier horrors includingthe county’s foot-and-mouth scourge in 2001. It distributedjust over £2m in grants to those most damaged by the dreadfuldisease including farmers, agricultural contractors and tour-ism businesses.

It again sprang into crisis mode after the devastating floodsin the Carlisle area in 2005 when it gave aid totalling morethan £800,000 to victims.

Grants from the Foundation are now helping to makebetween 150 and 200 homes and buildings hit by the Novemberdeluge “flood resilient” for the future with measures rangingfrom raising position of electric sockets, to “tanking” whichdefends properties from water seeping up underneath them.

The greatest amount of aid as expected as been in NorthCumbria in the Workington and Cockermouth areas, butrelief has also gone to badly hit South Lakeland spotsincluding Ulverston.

Cumbria Community Foundation grants officer David An-drews said that at the end of |January 492 of the 534 individualgrants applied for had gone through of which 427 were inAllerdale, 58 were in South Lakeland, four were in Copelandand one was in Dalton in the borough of Barrow.

GlaxoSmithKline which has its antibiotics factory in Ulver-ston gave £10,000. By the end of January the Foundation’sFlood Recovery Fund had passed £1.8m and was headed for£2m. Grants averaged £800 and included in some cases moneyto help people like shopkeepers who had been hit by the floodsand had no income coming in.

Community groups prove to be social glue that holdssocieties together in a crisis says Deb Muscat, a grantsdevelopment officer with the Foundation.

While the Flood Recovery fund is the headline of themoment she is very much involved with the NMP CommunityFund which will align with the Britain’s EnergyCoast™ programme.

ACUMBRIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: Deb Muscat, left,and Annalee Holliday, admin assistant, with some donationsto the fund JONATHAN BECKER 0010948F001.JPG

UNDER WATER:The floods inUlverston lastNovember

• New Preparatory Department for children aged 7 – 11 • GCSE Programme encouraging academic excellence

• Dedicated Sixth Form for A Level provision • Full and Weekly Boarding offered

• Strong pastoral care provided by our experienced residential staff

• Varied programme of extra-curriculum activities included in the fees

• Wide ranging sports facilities including refurbished indoor swimming pool, 9 hole golf course and Golf Academy

with PGA Coaching Professional

• Specialised Learning Support Unit providing support for pupils with dyslexia, dyscalculia and other specific learning difficulties

For more information and to arrange a visit please contact

The Admissions Department 01946 828010

or see our website www.st-bees-school.org

St. Bees SchoolHMC- Coeducational

Day Pupils 7-18 Boarding Pupils 11-18

We are holding our

Entrance Examinations (11+)Saturday 27th February 2010, 9.00am

and our

Music Scholarship AuditionsMonday 1st March 2010, 9.00am

Contact us for more details

Bursaries for children attending St. Bees School are available

for day, weekly, full and flexi boarding places.

When agreed, bursaries range from £500 per annum to 100% of the School fees.