COUNCIL bosses have expressed their disappointment at a Government decision not to grant community benefits during Hinkley Point C’s construction.

Sedgemoor District Council gave evidence for a report by the Energy and Climate Change Committee, asking for additional community benefit during the construction period of new nuclear builds like Hinkley.

The committee report, which asks for the benefits on top of the standard Section 106 agreement, said: “Unlike renewables, nuclear power stations take a long time to build and therefore have the potential to cause considerable disruption to local communities for an extended period of time.”

Developers currently pay Section 106 agreements to the Planning Authority to offset the costs of the external effects of a development.

In a response to the committee’s recommendations, the Government said: “S106 provisions are intended to mitigate the impact of the construction.

“At Hinkley, an agreement was made around the valuation of the S106 package and it would be contrary to the Government’s no subsidy policy to provide additional funds for this purpose.”

Corporate director of SDC, Bob Brown, who gave evidence to the Committee, said: “Sedgemoor has championed Community Benefit Contributions for all phases of the Hinkley development.

“We’re disappointed the Government has chosen not to provide those benefits during the construction phase.

“The Government has conceded the issue of community benefits during the operational phase and they will be making an announcement on those benefits in the coming weeks.

“We can’t see the difference between the impact of the construction and operational phases. If anything, the construction phase would have more of an impact and therefore there should be community benefits in place.”

For other energy projects, such as wind farm applications, community benefits are granted immediately and SDC is asking for equal treatment.

The reports says the Government is “currently finalising the proposals for a community benefits package for sites that host new nuclear power stations”, adding details of the package will be issued shortly.