Agenda item

Questions to Member Champions.

Councillor Jane Bell commented on the work that had been undertaken by officers on Remembrance Sunday to commemorate the 100 years since the end of World War I and asked Councillor Alan Ogilvie as Member Champion of the Armed Forces to thank all involved. This was echoed by Councillor Colin Clark who agreed that the work officers did was absolutely phenomenal and much appreciated. Councillor Ogilvie responded that he had already written to the Chief Executive and asked her to pass on thanks to everyone concerned in the parade and Beacon lighting event.

Questions to the Representative(s) of Outside Bodies.

Councillor Keith Martin asked if the representative of the Springfields Fuels Ltd – Site Stakeholder’s Group could update the Council on the last meeting held in October, particularly in relation to Operation Heron.

Councillor Karen Walton provided the following response:

As you are probably aware Springfield’s Fuels Limited is a UK Nuclear Licensed Site and COMAH (holds certain chemicals which requires registration by the Health and Safety Executive) establishment situated on the outskirts of Preston just north of the Ribble Estuary. The plant is directly adjacent to South Ribble Borough Council as the crow flies and as such the Council is part of the Multi Agency Response arrangements to address any major incident at the premises.

The principal activity on site is the production of fuel for civil nuclear reactors involving the processing of highly toxic Uranium Fluoride (UF6) to manufacture nuclear fuel products. Springfield’s is required to comply with the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001 (REPPIR) and the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) 2015 Regulations and Lancashire County Council are responsible for producing and exercising an off-site plan for the site every 3 years.

Testing of the Springfield’s REPPIR/COMAH off Site Plan called Exercise Heron 7 took place on the 3 October and three officers from South Ribble Borough Council were in attendance. The full debrief meeting of the exercise will take place on the 5 December 2018 and will be attended by our Emergency Planning Officer. A full report will then be produced and if this report is made available to the public we can forward a copy.

Councillor Keith Martin asked if the representative of Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) could provide a response to the following questions:

1.    CPRE have raised concerns that the Government’s plan to Fast Track applications for Shale Gas Exploration. They say this removes the power from Planning Authorities to fully investigate any Shale Gas application, and could be seen that the Government is favouring some energy projects and not others by choosing different paths via localism, which should put residents at the heart of decisions.

Was this discussed at a Lancashire level, and if so, what were the comments and thoughts of the Lancashire Branch?

2.    CPRE agree there is a need to develop more homes, but these homes should be the right type and are in the right place. Given that Penwortham is looking at thousands of properties being built as part of the City Deal. Will the Lancashire Branch of CPRE be commenting on these consultations within Penwortham and continue to campaign locally for the right housing in the area?

If the Lancashire Branch have already discussed this, could you pass on the thoughts and recommendations of the branch.

Although Councillor David Bird had provided a response in advance of the meeting, it was considered that this should be in consultation with the Cabinet Member and it was reported that a full response would be circulated to all Members outside of the meeting.

Councillors Bird was not happy that he had been prevented from sharing his response at the meeting, an opinion shared by Councillors Keith Martin and Paul Foster. However, there was a view by officers that the response needed to be a collated one to ensure that the response was as full and accurate as possible.