Dounreay fund will not open to Orkney
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Cold water has been poured on a proposal to extend Dounreay’s travel-to-work area to include Orkney.
If successful, it would have given island businesses and community groups access to funding bankrolled by the quango which manages the clean-up of the redundant nuclear complex.
But the move has been knocked back by Dounreay Stakeholder Group (DSG), the site’s community liaison body.
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DSG chairman Struan Mackie has made clear there are no plans to extend the area.
He was replying to Orkney Islands Councillor Stephen Clackson, who had come up with the initiative.
Dr Clackson, Orkney Island Council’s representative on DSG, believed Orkney should be included in the travel-to-work area along with Caithness and parts of the north and east coasts of Sutherland.
At the time, the North Isles councillor said: “Maybe it’s time that this was modified or updated as we are very close and just have the Pentland Firth separating us.”
Mr Mackie said the travel-to-work area for Dounreay has long been established as a socio-economic designation by local government, statutory bodies and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
He said it reflects the areas where Dounreay is the principal employer and where workers and contractors travel to and from every day.
On that basis he said: “Having discussed the matter with funders and site stakeholders, I have been informed that this clear geographical area is unlikely to be reviewed, a view that was shared at the DSG’s business meeting.”
He accepted that local authorities and organisations would be more engaged with the ongoing activities at Dounreay and next-door Vulcan if they had ‘skin in the game’.
But he said changing the area would create significant issues in re-constituting funding agreements, re-aligning cross-party and governmental support for regeneration, and “articulating a public message that is well understood in the far north”.
Mr Mackie told Cllr Clackson: “Whilst this response will not be what you will have hoped for, be in no doubt that your contribution to the DSG and Orkney Islands Council’s reliable representation to our forum is greatly valued.”
The NDA commits £500,000 a year to a socio-economic fund as well as making occasional large one-off grants to support large infrastructural projects such as harbour expansions.
