A total of 27 grant awards totalling £1million were made to local organisations during the second year that Mid Copeland GDF Community Partnership has been part of the Geological Disposal Facility programme.
This means the Community Partnership has now awarded £2million in two years to a variety of local projects as discussions progress around what a facility could mean for the Mid Copeland area.
Much of this funding over the past two years has now been spent and new facilities provided.
The final grants of the year approved were as follows:
- Seascale Primary School: £48,000 for outdoor learning area/play equipment
- Gosforth Show: £4,150 for sheep pens, tables and chairs, bird boxes
- Drigg Young Farmers: £4,200 for a training rig and tug of war equipment
- Egremont Fairtade and Local Campaign Group: £2,000 towards farmers’ market
- Egremont Amenity Committee: £2,500 towards Egremont Winter Wonderland
- Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team: £49,482 for vehicle update, radio, thermal imager
- Gosforth First Responders: £17,510 for kit, training, awareness and publicity
- Haile Village Hall: £5,500 for community consultation & survey work for Village Hall
- St Mary’s Church, Gosforth: £4,000 for options study for historical artefacts
- Westlakes U3A: £3,014 for IT equipment for online courses/training
- Voluntary Action Cumbria (ACT): £6,650 for Mid Copeland Warm Spots
A GDF is an underground facility designed to safely and securely dispose of higher activity radioactive waste.
The Mid Copeland GDF Search Area covers the electoral ward of Gosforth which includes Seascale, Gosforth, Beckermet, Calderbridge, Haile, Thornhill, Nethertown and Braystones. The Lake District National Park is excluded from consideration – however CIF can be used for eligible community projects benefiting this area.
Thornhill School take part in lifesaving Flat Stan workshop earlier in the year. The scheme was awarded Community Investment Funding.
Deep geology beyond the coast is being considered for siting the underground elements of a GDF in Mid Copeland. This means a surface facility on, or near, the coast would provide access to a disposal area deep in rock beyond the coast.
The GDF programme requires both a suitable site and a willing community and is still in the early stages. Construction will only start on a GDF when a suitable site is identified, a Potential Host Community has confirmed its willingness to host the facility through a Test of Public Support, and all the necessary consents and permits have been obtained. These steps could take around 15 years.