SEVERNSIDE Together Against Nuclear development (STAND) is a non-political and totally independent campaign group who have been raising awareness about the dangers of the proposed new enormous Nuclear Power Station that Hitachi are planning to build on the flood plain at Oldbury, just across the river Severn from Lydney.

We recently sent a letter to every Forest of Dean candidate standing in the county council elections, asking for their stance on this frightening proposal.

The results were extremely interesting and frankly quite surprising.

Not all the candidates replied, but of the large number that did, every one of them voiced their opposition to the proposal. As you might expect, every Green Party candidate was against it, but some Conservative, Labour and Independent candidates as well, while not all against nuclear power in principle, were against the Oldbury plans.

We believe that this was not just nimbyism but a cool appraisal of the dangers of using this low lying site, prone to flooding and very vulnerable to the funnelling effects of the Bristol Channel in the event of unusual storm surges.

It has been predicted by scientists that an offshore tsunami, generated in the Canary Islands, could occur at anytime. This would be catastrophic for our area, with a Fukushima-style accident that could see the whole of Bristol, Gloucester, Newport and the area in between having to be evacuated - possibly forever! It sounds scary stuff, but this is not fiction – it really could happen.

The proposed Nuclear Station at Oldbury will also be a monstrous eyesore, many, many times larger than the existing power station, with three or four very tall cooling towers dominating the landscape for 20 to 30 miles around.

If you care about the environment and the safety of future generations, can I urge you to find out where your prospective county councillor stands on this, arguably the most important of all local issues, before placing your cross?

If you want to find out more about the proposed Nuclear Power Station, visit our website, www. standagainstoldbury.org or come along to our next public meeting on May 16, The Annexe, Lydney, 7.30pm.

– John French, Brockweir.