As the elected mayor of Copeland, I am very keen to ensure that I meet and listen to as many residents as possible.

On Friday November 11 at 7pm I will be attending Thwaites Village Hall for the public meeting to discuss the proposals put forward for consultation by National Grid.

I will also be hosting two public meetings.

The first one is at 6pm on November 23 at the Egremont Rangers Rugby League Club and I am currently finalising a date in Millom for early December and at both those public meetings I am sure that the National Grid project will be one of the main topics discussed.

National Grid is also running a number of consultation meetings throughout the borough and I would urge as many of you as possible to attend, complete the consultation response form and make sure your voice and opinion is considered.

It is equally important that in your feedback you make it just as clear as to what you want as well as what you don’t, which is what you should do in response to any consultation where the impact of what is decided directly affects you or your family.

My own position is that I very much welcome the Moorside new nuclear development in Copeland and for that to happen the link up to the National Grid has to take place. The large scale inward investment and the amount of jobs it will create makes it a once in a lifetime opportunity to change this area for the better, improve the prospects of so many the people who live here and address the many social issues that blight our community.

I say a once in lifetime opportunity but that is not quite correct, we have had this very same opportunity twice before when Sellafield was built and when the huge construction of Pond 5 and THORP took place in the late 70s and early 80s. Other than a fleeting boom we let the opportunity pass us by and Copeland was left with no legacy and indeed some of the problems that we are now trying to address.

This is our last chance to get it right and create a lasting legacy and enduring prosperity.

We have got to learn from the past and put those lessons to good use in realising the potential of what is before us.

Clearly with two gigantic nationally significant infrastructure projects in the heart of our community it is going to and in many instances already has, impacted on residents.

In reality there will never be a time where these projects can progress in such a way that everybody will be satisfied and that is why it is so important that residents are fully engaged in the consultation process.

I very much understand that there are real concerns in the community about how these projects move forward and how they will impact on the lives of local people and the local environment. I am looking forward to discussing these issues and listening to those concerns at the upcoming public meetings that I feel can help us shape a positive way forward.

Mike Starkie, elected mayor of Copeland