A MULTINATIONAL company hoping to spend billions of pounds on a new nuclear power plant should commit to investing more in local communities, councillors will argue this week.

Cumbria County Council’s cabinet is expected to approve the authority’s official response to a public consultation on NuGen’s plans to develop Moorside when it meets on Thursday.

While supportive of the development, the report is critical of NuGen’s decision not to create a community benefits fund.

Such a fund would be used to mitigate any negative effect the new build would have for local residents.

The report reads: “At this early stage it is important to be clear that Cumbria County Council is in-principle supportive of new nuclear development at Moorside. However this support is conditional on the proviso that the impacts of the development are appropriately addressed and that the project makes a sustainable contribution to the county’s economy. The council understands that NuGen does not intend to create a community benefits fund.

“If the project proceeds, NuGen should acknowledge that the area is hosting a major nuclear facility whose main purpose is to meet a national need for energy. It is essential that any adverse impact arising from the project is properly mitigated and that the lasting legacy benefits compensate adequately for any disadvantages experienced by Cumbria. Given the complexity of the Moorside development it is anticipated that there will be a need for some form of funding to address impacts which the communities affected by the proposal will be subject to.”

It is thought that NuGen’s investment will be worth £16bn to the Cumbrian economy.

Speaking at a meeting last week, directly elected Copeland mayor Mike Starkie argued that the Moorside development offered a unique opportunity for towns like Millom to develop new supply chain businesses.

He said: “In Copeland, we’ve got a community of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’. It’s the third borough in the country for average earners and has some of the lowest house prices. People down south must read about that and think we’re rolling in cash up here in Copeland. But there are other points, like deprivation and unemployment, where we rank very high.

“I think a lot of the ‘haves’ live in a world that’s behind a fence at Sellafield and I think that inflates a lot of the statistics. Investment has happened before but we didn’t get a sustainable legacy from it the last time.

“We need to put ourselves on a position where we can get a bigger share of the supply chain.”