News : Community Partnership in Cumbria shortlisted for prestigious award
A Partnership of organisations in
The West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership has reached the final round in the ‘Community Relations’ category in the CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) North West PRide Awards.
The Partnership is made up of a range of organisations including Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council, Cumbria County Council, the Lake District National Park, Cumbria Tourism and the National Farmers Union. Its role is to look at whether
The Partnership has already carried out two extensive waves of public and stakeholder engagement to inform, and gain feedback from, residents of
Councillor Tim Knowles, who is a member of the West Cumbria MRWS Partnership and the cabinet member for the environment on Cumbria County Council, said: “We’re pleased that the Partnership has been shortlisted for this award because it recognises the hard work we have been doing to involve people in these discussions.
“We have rightly placed a very high priority on communications and public engagement. A repository would affect the people who live here for many generations into the future and we would encourage everyone to get involved and come to a view about what they think would be in the best interests of the area.”
In order to engage the community with the issues the West Cumbria MRWS Partnership has carried out a wide range of activity. This work has included drop-in sessions across the county, workshops and discussion groups at schools and community organisations. In order to raise awareness the Partnership has set up a website, issued press releases to the media, placed advertorials in local newspapers, sent newsletters to households in West Cumbria, organised exhibition stands at events and in town centres and made use of social media.
After more than two years looking at issues that are relevant to whether the area should take part in the search for a repository, the Partnership is now producing a draft report setting out its initial conclusions. Later this year there will be a major consultation to ask people in
Councillor Knowles says: “The Government has committed itself to a voluntary process, which means a repository will only be built in an area if there is support for it from local people. This is the first time local communities have been given so much say about a major project like this, so it really is worth everyone getting involved.”
If
The CIPR North West PRide Awards final will take place at the Deansgate Hilton Hotel in
Jane Wilson the chief executive of the CIPR said: “The CIPR PRide Awards celebrate the best PR and campaigns from the profession across the
More information about the Partnership is available at www.westcumbriamrws.org.uk. The Partnership also has a Facebook page, a LinkedIn group and people can follow WestCumbriaMRWS on Twitter.
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For media enquiries please contact the Partnership’s communications advisor Paul Gardner or Ian Boydon at Osprey Communications on 01524-782086 or 077667906561
- In addition to Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County Council there are a range of other organisations making up the partnership, including Barrow Borough Council, the Nuclear Legacy Advisory Forum), local trade unions, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Churches Together Council, Eden District Council, South Lakeland District Council, Carlisle City Council, the Lake District National Park Authority, the Cumbria Association of Local Councils, NuLeAF (the Nuclear Legacy in Cumbria, the Chamber of Commerce and Cumbria Tourism.
- A number of other organisations attend as ‘observing members’ including Government departments, the Isle of Man Government, CoRWM (Committee on Radioactive Waste Management), the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the safety and environment regulators.
- The Government is looking for a community in the
- Taking part in discussions with the Government does not commit the Cumbrian authorities to hosting a deep geological repository and they can withdraw from the process at any point up until a time when construction would begin – estimated to be more than 10 years from now.