CUMBRIA County Council has highlighted an urgent need for the government to invest in the county's roads as part of the authority's official response to plans to build a nuclear power station.

After a detailed debate the council signed off a response that made it clear that while the council is supportive in principle, as it recognises the considerable economic benefits that can be realised for the economy through NuGen's investments in a new nuclear power station at Moorside.

The cabinet was clear that this investment must be accompanied by appropriate parallel investment in infrastructure and community facilities in order to mitigate the impacts of the development, such as the need for investment in the county’s roads and infrastructure to deal with a significant increase in the volume of traffic.

Stewart Young, Leader of Cumbria County Council said: “Whilst we are broadly supportive, this project will require significant additional investment to secure the right infrastructure to support the construction of Moorside and its three new nuclear reactors. The sheer scale of this nuclear project is unprecedented for Cumbria and in fact unprecedented for the UK.

"To ensure that everyone benefits we need a guarantee from Government or NuGen, or both of extensive additional investment into services like the county’s infrastructure (roads, railways and ports), accommodation for the workforce, and the development of skills to ensure that as many jobs as possible are taken by Cumbrians.

Following submission of our formal response we will then be looking to NuGen, and the Government, to ensure that robust plans are put in place to guarantee that this development results in a clear and lasting legacy for Cumbria – plans that will see Cumbrian communities benefit from this nuclear new build for many generations to come.”

The council is a statutory consultee as part of this formal consultation process which ends on 30 July 2016. To date the council has and will continue to work closely with NuGen and Copeland Borough Council on the project.

The planning decision for Moorside will ultimately rest with the Secretary of State and the Planning Inspectorate. Cumbria County Council as one of the two ‘host authorities’ of the new nuclear power station is a statutory consultee in the planning process that will take until 2024 at the earliest before the first reactor is operational.