The Ministry of Defence has been asked not to stall a clean-up of Dalgety Bay’s radiation-strewn beach by a further year.
The announcement that it would be another 12 months before work to remove radioactive debris from the foreshore area started has been opposed by former prime minister Gordon Brown, who dubbed it an imposition on long-suffering residents.
The Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP has consistently called for a swift start to work following the MoD’s agreement to an extensive remediation package.
Mr Brown has now asked the MoD to review its plan to delay any work on Dalgety Bay beach. The postponement until the summer of 2015 was announced to the Dalgety Bay implementation group.
In a report to Dalgety Bay Community Council, Mr Brown said that the delay was “unnecessary and time wasting, given the three years we have waited and the need to get rid of the pollution on the beach as soon as possible”.
He has said he was pleased that the £10 million clean-up had been agreed and that the Ministry would pay.
He was also pleased that an end date of 2017 has been announced for all work, including a new slipway for the local sailing club, to be completed.
However, he added: “A year’s delay in starting the clean-up is an unnecessary imposition that will be regretted by the long-suffering, and extremely patient residents of Dalgety Bay.”
In asking the new Defence Minister Anna Soubry to reconsider, Mr Brown explained that the Ministry had won the support of Fife Council and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for its actions, but risked undermining the goodwill created by its decision by postponing to the later starting date.
“We have fought long and hard for this clean up, and we have succeeded in securing £10m for the work to be done.
“The goodwill the Ministry has shown in taking the right decision to fund the clean up is undermined by the year-long delay in getting started.”
He has told the minister of the planning authority’s support for an early start to the work and willingness to “do everything possible to speed the operation up”.
“I hope that on reflection, a decision to avoid the delay will be made. It is unnecessary to go through another winter with particles accumulating on the beach when they could start to be removed very soon.”