Fresh call for nuclear body to fund Thurso bypass
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A RENEWED call for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to fund a long-mooted bypass round Thurso has been made by local councillor.
Landward Caithness representative David Flear made the comments following the announcement by the nuclear clean-up quango that spent fuel is to be shipped by train to the Sellafield site in Cumbria for reprocessing.
Mr Flear thinks that a legacy fund should be set up as a trade-off for the fuel leaving the Dounreay site.
“I think from the Highland Council perspective we feel there should be consultations with the communities where the spent fuel is passing through,” he said.
“As there are implications for Dounreay we also need to be making sure that there is some kind of compensation and some legacy projects that are available after this has taken place.
“I think basically we are looking at some rail infrastructure at Georgemas Junction but in the long term I think we would like to see a fund started up that could possibly give us a Thurso bypass.” Mr Flear said that at the moment all heavy traffic has to come through the centre of Thurso and if the multimillion pound renewables development at Scrabster is to be capitalised on then that should change.
“There are already plans in situ and ground set aside for such a bypass round Thurso and this has been the case for quite some time,” said Mr Flear.
“It’s quite a long-term plan but my understanding is that it could take around 10 years to move these ‘exotic’ fuels from Dounreay.
“There is an opportunity here to start a fund that could see us finally get this bypass.”
There has long been talk of a bypass around the town but it was brought to the fore again in September when Thurso Community Council chairman Bob Earnshaw raised the matter.
Mr Earnshaw, who also chairs site liaison body Dounreay Stakeholder Group, which has made a similar plea to the NDA, said it would be a fitting trade-off for the work moving south.
The Scottish Government earlier this year refused to support the multimillion pound scheme which would divert heavy traffic bound to and from Scrabster away from the town centre.
Trunk road officials said the plans were not value for money.
The planned route would take traffic from the approach of the A9 across the River Thurso towards the south side of the Dunbar Hospital.
It would then link up with a new distributor road running from Provost Cormack Drive over the moors to the east of the business park at Burnside.
NDA stakeholder relations and socio-economic manager Anna MacConnell commented: “The NDA is aware of the necessity for sustainable economic development in the area and will continue ?with its established approach to local socio-economic initiatives.
“We understand there are community aspirations and economic arguments regarding the benefits of a number of transport infrastructure projects.
“We would seek to discuss these with our colleagues in the Highland Council, Scottish Government and HIE and important local organisations like the Caithness Chamber of Commerce, continuing our united efforts to develop a sustainable economy in Caithness and North Sutherland.”
