Burnham-On-Sea could receive more community benefits as a result of the construction of Hinkley Point C power station under proposals unveiled this week.
An influential House of Commons Committee, which has heard evidence from Sedgemoor District Council, has endorsed the use of community benefits as a way to build trust among those living near proposed nuclear facilities.
A report published by MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee has recommended that community benefits should be extended to new nuclear power projects. At present, Community Benefits are only available to renewable energy projects.
The Committee also called on the Government to consider whether it could be possible to provide any additional forms of benefit during the construction period given the considerable disruption to local communities.
Councillor Duncan McGinty, leader of Sedgemoor District Council, said he welcomed the report’s conclusions.
“Sedgemoor has championed Community Benefit Contributions as an important mechanism to ensure the communities around Hinkley Point receive fair and reasonable benefits in recognition of the burden of hosting nationally beneficial energy infrastructure,” he told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“We very much welcome this Parliamentary endorsement for community benefit. We really valued it when MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee came down in November last year to visit the Hinkley site and the local communities that will be impacted by the development.”
“I think they appreciated that the construction phase of new nuclear is when the impact is most felt. As the Committee points out, there needs to be a mechanism to do what the planning system cannot, by addressing the long-term, significant physical and psychological effect on the quality of life of the host community.”
