Labour councillor Alex Gallagher has voiced concerns about the impact on the local economy of the closure of the Longannet power station, and the wider implications at Hunterston.

The coal-fired power station in Fife is the largest customer using the Clydeport terminal in Fairlie.

Councillor Gallagher asked the council’s cabinet for an economic assessment of the effects of Longannet’s closure. He has said ‘the long term success of the coal terminal is now under threat’, and that the future of well-paid job opportunities was ‘bleak’.

However, SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson has said that the Scottish Government is aiming to ‘avert the premature closure of Longannet’, and said it had nothing to do with National Planning Framework.

Cllr Gallagher said; “If Longannet closes, the coal terminal will lose its biggest customer. This poses a threat to the long term success of the terminal, its economic contribution to the North Ayrshire economy and the vital jobs it provides. We urgently need to know how this will impact in North Ayrshire.” “When you link this to the fact that we will lose the high value jobs at Hunterston B power station in the next few years, the situation for secure and well-paid employment in this area begins to look very bleak indeed”.

Full story in this week's Largs and Millport News.