Gazette Comment---Editorial from this weeks Thornbury Gazette---

A big question mark hangs over the future  of nuclear energy at Oldbury this week.

People living in Oldbury and Shepperdine had thought that proposals for a new nuclear power station  on the banks of the River Severn was a fait  accompli,especially with power consortium Horizon buying up land left, right and centre.

However the new coalition government appears to have thrown a spanner in the works for Horizon's plans and given the residents of South Gloucestershire,who do not want another power station,hope.

The government has said that it wants to re-consult on its plans to build a new generation of nuclear power staions across the country.

DECC, the department in charge of the National Policy Statements on nuclear energy, claims that there are changes that need to be discussed but has not said what those changes are.

Horizon has said it believes the programme of new build, including at Oldbury, will still go ahead despite this temporary delay..

The people of Oldbury and Shepperdine are, however, more optimistic about what this new round of consultatin could mean for them and South Gloucestershire.

The district and the nuclear industry now has an anxious few months ahead, until the coalition government reveals what it plans for new nuclear build projects.