Nuclear power consultation ignored Welsh language

21 October 2011

21 Hydref 2011

The Environment Agency has been forced to extend the deadline for a public consultation on a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset, just 15 miles from Barry and less than 30 miles from Cardiff and Newport.
 
No consultation material was originally provided in Welsh. However, as a result of pressure from Friends of the Earth Cymru the Environment Agency has finally provided bilingual material and extended the deadline for response.
 
Gareth Clubb, Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, said:
 
"The Environment Agency totally ignored its obligations under the Welsh Language Act. It seems the requirement to consult with Welsh speakers in our own language never even entered their minds. The Environment Agency describes its failure to provide Welsh language materials as "an oversight" - which shows just how much consideration they give to Wales.
 
"This is just the latest in a long string of examples that show the nuclear industry, its regulators, and the UK government departments promoting it care little for the opinion of people in Wales.
 
"Nuclear power stations could be built in Wales against the wishes of the Welsh Government. And now the regulator is looking at a dangerous plant that would threaten south Wales if anything went wrong is failing to properly consult the Welsh people.
 
"We don't need expensive nuclear power. It's unnecessary, it's dangerous, and it squeezes out money that would be better spent on developing renewable energy and energy efficiency."

NOTES

The Environment Agency (EA) has extending the deadline for responding to consultations on Hinkley Point from 6 October to 15 December. The EA website says that the extension is "in response to the high level of public interest and complexity of the applications".  A letter from Chris Mills, Director of EA Wales, to Gareth Clubb, states: "We have decided to extend the public consultation. This is because of a delay in providing bilingual information regarding the consultation on our web pages."

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