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To ensure a wide range of community interests are involved in discussions, a joint partnership has been set up.
This is called the "West Cumbria MRWS Partnership" and aims to make recommendations to the councils on whether they should move to the next stage of the process with the Government. The Partnership itself is not taking any decisions. Its role is an advisory one of fact-finding and research gathering.
The Partnership meets roughly every six weeks. The public can attend these meetings to observe discussions and ask questions. The meetings are independently managed and reported by 3KQ so that no one view dominates and proceedings are fairly recorded.
The Government is providing funding to cover the costs of the work the Partnership needs to do to before it can make a recommendation on whether to move to the next stage of the process or not.
The membership criteria are that an organisation must:
- Hold a substantive interest in Copeland and/or Allerdale and the impact a geological disposal facility might have on the wider area
- Represent a formally constituted body or community of interest whose views are not already represented on the Partnership
- Be willing to operate within the Terms of Reference and working agreement of the Partnership
Additionally, the Partnership contracts expert technical assistance from time to time to complement the experience of its members.
Current membership includes:
Allerdale Borough Council (also on Steering Group)
Barrow Borough Council
Copeland Borough Council (also on Steering Group)
Churches Together in Cumbria
Cumbria Association of Local Councils (also on Steering Group)
Cumbria County Council (also on Steering Group)
Chamber of Commerce (Cumbria)
Eden District Council
GMB Union / Unite (also on Steering Group)
Lake District National Park Authority
National Farmers Union
Nuclear Legacy Advisory Forum (a UK Local Authority representative group)
Prospect Union
South Lakeland District Council
West Cumbria Sites Stakeholder Group (also on Steering Group)
Observing Members are official bodies that sit on the Partnership to provide advice and support, when requested by full members to do so. They do not take part in making Partnership decisions. Observing members include:
Committee on Radioactive Waste Management
Department of Energy and Climate Change
Environment Agency
Isle of Man Government
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Nuclear Installations Inspectorate
Others invited include:
Greenpeace
Friends of the Earth West Cumbria
CORE (Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment
Carlisle City Council
freephone - 0800 048 8912 email - contact@westcumbriamrws.org.uk
