by Tricia Jamieson

tjamieson@thekmgroup.co.uk

A commitment to press for a new nuclear power station at Dungeness has come from civic leaders.

They vowed to lobby the next government to get Dungeness C back on the list of potential new station sites.

At a meeting at Quarterhouse in Folkestone last night, Kent County Council chairman John Davies said: "We are going to present a case that the government of the future will listen to."

Civic heads and representatives from local orgainsations were told Dungeness B contributes £30m a year to

the local economy and employs 570 people plus around 200 from outside companies - jobs and money which would be lost if a replacement station is not built.

Dungeness A is being decommissioned and Dungeness - run by EDF Energy - will carry on operating until 2018.

A new nuclear power station was excluded from the government's list of preferred sites last year, leading to protests including one from Shepway council.

Cllr Davies said KCC would lobby the next government to reinstate Dungeness C on the list.

Graham Finn, station manager of Dungeness B, said he had been born and brought up in the area and had worked at the power station for 35 years so understood local people's requirements.

The station employed 570 people full-time and outsourced some services to local suppliers, creating work for another 200 people.

It runs an apprentice scheme placing great emphasis on training and puts £30m a year into the local economy.

"We were dismayed when Dungeness was not included on the preferred list," said Mr Finn.

"The government said it expects to need 15 power stations worth of power by 2025 and we saw Dungneness as key to helping the government achieve its target.

"We are doing what we can to get Dungeness back on the list. We believe we should not be ruled out."

Cllr David Brazier, KCC deputy cabinet member for environment, highways and waste, said the economic case for a new power station was understood by local people and by EDF Energy.

"We have made our response [to the government] as powerful as possible," he said.

"Shepway has made a robust response. The county council is committed to working with colleagues on the district council.

"The battle is not won nor is it lost."

Romney Marsh county and district councillor William Richardson said thousands of houses had been built locally to accommodate workers and now there was nowhere for them to work.

Referring to the government's decision to exclude Dungeness C because it would cause an adverse impact on the environment, he said: "Dungeness is made of sand not cotton wool.

"It has survived world wars and farmers' herds of goats and the flora and fauna is still there. People should get things into perspective."

KCC leader Cllr Paul Carter said the new power station was not just about business but what it meant to the people of Dungeness and the surrounding area.

"The amount of money that a nuclear power plant puts into the local economy, £30m, will be lost if we do not get a replacement station," he said.

"We will do all we can after the general election to lobby for EDF to build a new station."

The meeting was hosted by Cllr Davies and Cllr Susan Carey, chairman of Shepway council.