Concerns are growing over possible transportation of nuclear waste on roads through the area, including West Kilbride and Seamill.

Rita Holmes from Fairlie, who chairs the Hunterston stakeholders group, attended a recent meeting of Largs Community Council which discussed the matter.

She shared the council’s fears over lorry movements, and wished to know why EDF Energy were wanting to make changes now to arrangements for waste storage.

The community council agreed to send a strongly worded letter to SEPA spelling out a range of reasons why they are opposing transportation of nuclear waste.

This follows EDF Energy’s application for new authorisations to allow radioactive waste to be transported by road between its nuclear power stations at Hunterston and Torness in East Lothian.

The community council’s objections include worries about the “increased danger of hazardous cargoes on our roads”, the number of lorry moments involved, and uncertainty over why this waste movement is needed now.

The letter points out: �-� Largs is a tourist town and for many months of the year there are changes to traffic volume, travel speeds and now the increased danger of additional hazardous cargoes on our roads.

�-� Largs Community Council requires clarity as to why there is a need to move waste from Torness to Hunterston when it has not been deemed necessary until now.

The letter adds that nuclear transportations are conducted without the consent of the communities along the transport routes.

Meanwhile this week, North Ayrshire Labour Councillor Alex Gallagher claimed the current situation had arisen as a consequence of an SNP decision in 2007.

He said: “Rather than sending the waste to Sellafield for storage and deep geological disposal (the scientists preferred option) they decided to keep radioactive waste ‘near site near surface’ because they didn’t want to be dependent on England to store the waste of their ‘independent’ Scotland.

“The ILW (Intermediate Level Waste) store at Hunterston was built to take the waste from the decommissioning of Hunterston A but they found a way to store the waste more efficiently, allowing extra capacity at the store. Under “near surface near site”, NAC allowed some waste from the operational Hunterston B Station to also be kept there.

“During the last council elections, I questioned this and predicted that there was a possibility the EDF would eventually wish to transfer Torness waste to Hunterston. I was roundly vilified by Councillor Alan Hill and the SNP for saying so and was reported to the returning officer for “lying” and threatened with legal action and other sanctions. But what I suggested is exactly what is now happening.”