Letter: AWE debate is more like a monologue

Correspondent • Published 28 Jan 2010 08:00 Comments 1 Comment

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I WAS surprised to read in a letter about the new enriched uranium facility at the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) a claim from a spokesperson that AWE is in regular dialogue with residents through its Local Liaison Committee (Chronicle, January 14).

Membership of AWE's Local Liaison Committee is restricted to a handful of local councillors - mostly supporters of AWE from nearby parish councils - and officials from Government quangos such as the Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive.

Members of the press are forbidden from attending and local residents groups and environmental groups have also been refused membership of the committee. The chances of a member of the public being allowed to attend a meeting as an observer are nil. Quite how the Local Liaison Committee undertakes this regular dialogue with residents is a mystery. Few members of the committee even bother reporting back to their own councils, let alone the members of the public who they are supposed to represent. The most recent set of committee minutes posted on the AWE website are for June 2009 - even though two committee meetings have taken place since then.

As usual, AWE is being economical with the truth by pretending that it listens to the views of local people. The regrettable truth is that over its 50 year existence AWE has made a show of appearing to consider the opinion of local people, and nothing has changed now.

Duncan Barnet, Western Elms Avenue, Reading

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Flowerpot Man
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Jan 28, 21:28
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Absolutely right - AWE treats local people with contempt even though it is us who have to bear the risks from its activities. We get a lot of spin and greenwash from AWE but never the truth. Remember the flooding in September 2007 which closed AWE Burghfield for several weeks but was covered up by AWE until exposed by Channel 4 News over a year later.

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Jan 28, 21:33
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