The National Trust has fired a powerful broadside against proposed nuclear new build in west Cumbria.

They have announced that in their view the National Policy Statement on Nuclear is 'not fit for purpose.'

Serious reservations have been expressed about new build at Sellafield and they say that Braystones and Kirksanton should be
removed from the list.

The Trust is a significant landowner in the Lake District National Park, which is adjacent to this proposed site at Braystones.

In a report the Trust says it is very concerned about this proposal particularly in relation to the inevitability of impacts on landscape and on likely impacts of transmission lines needed to connect the site.

These are very likely to go close to or through the national park.

There are also likely to be significant impacts to SSSI in the locality of the site as a result of changes to the water environment.

There are insufficient details as present to identify how these would be addressed.

There will be direct impacts from the proposal on scheduled ancient
monuments, listed buildings and conservation areas within 1km of the site.

There are no mitigation measures within the proposal to date to address these.

The proposal will completely change the landscape character of the site and impose large structures within the seascape as viewed from the national park.

These will be of such a scale that no mitigation measures or screening will be effective.

When considered in association with the proposal for the Kirksanton site and the Sellafield site, The Trust is concerned about the overwhelming impact of this development on the character of the Lake District National Park and as such would request the removal of this site from the NPS.

The Trust owns land at Sandscale Haws close to the Kirksanton site and is concerned about this proposal for several reasons.

The coast at Kirksanton is a dune coast which is a fragile and
ever-shifting landform which is vulnerable to coastal processes and prone to dramatic change.

The Kirksanton proposal will require a very engineered and unsympathetic approach to coastal defences. This will have significant consequences for coastal processes and worrying adverse impacts on local ecological resources, including protected species such as the Natterjack Toad.

This site has a wide range of designated sites of international and
national importance for their biodiversity and we are not convinced that considerable negative impacts to these sites can be avoided or adequately mitigated against. T

he site is inherently unsuitable for these reasons.

In addition, development at this site would have considerable impact on landscape quality, particularly in views from the South West to the Lake District (across this site).

The related transmission infrastructure associated with the development will have a significant impact on views and on landscape quality.

When considered in association with the proposed development at Braystones and Sellafield, these impacts on landscape and the coastal environment are magnified and alarming.

The Trust would therefore request the removal of this site from inclusion in the NPS.

Today, county campaigners Radiation Free Lakeland said they wholly agree with the National Trust's position but would go further and insist that nowhere in Cumbria is suitable for new build, especially not Sellafield which houses the world's most dangerous High Level Waste tanks. 

All nuclear effort and expertise should be concentrated on looking after the existing wastes at the Sellafield site.

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