Plans for old Dorset nuclear site could curb jobs growth, warns innovation park

The Nuclear Decommissioning Agency is proposing to restore Winfrith to natural heathland

The restoration of Dorset’s Winfrith nuclear site to heathland looks set to face opposition from a neighbouring innovation park keen to utilise at least a portion of the land for job creation.

A masterplan for the former nuclear facility is currently being proposed by the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency – with a 15-20 year outlook.

Its present plans indicate the entire former nuclear site, including 21 hectares adjoining Dorset Innovation Park, would be returned to natural heathland.

Nick Webster, head of growth and economic regeneration at Dorset Council, informed an innovation park shareholders committee on Tuesday the heathland restoration proposal was “an issue” for the park, though a definitive ruling remained some considerable way off.

There is an estimated 8-10 years anticipated for the remaining nuclear site decommissioning, with heathland restoration, should it proceed, to follow afterwards.

He noted the masterplan was currently open for comment and Dorset Council would need to consider its position on the heathland restoration proposal, potentially arguing that not all of the site should be converted to heathland.

The same gathering was informed the Innovation Park had received £466,000 more in retained business rates than anticipated – yielding £976,000 against the projected £510,000.

Council finance portfolio holder Cllr Simon Clifford welcomed the figures – while simultaneously calling for an investigation into why the gap between actual returns and initial estimates had proved so substantial.

Mr Webster said the additional funding would bolster the Innovation Park’s long-term viability and provide greater investment capacity for projects than originally forecast.

The park, while operating as an independent entity, is owned by Dorset Council, which has ambitious plans to generate approximately 800 jobs through site development, effectively doubling the current workforce distributed across roughly 40 businesses – with particular emphasis on defence, advanced engineering, research and green energy.

The facility houses BattleLab, a Nato-accredited testing and evaluation facility operated with the Ministry of Defence.

Current proposals include establishing 300 new jobs by 2031 – though the original target was 2029, according to the council’s corporate plan.

The location is Dorset’s sole Enterprise Zone, which confers benefits including the ability to retain 100 per cent of business rate growth generated by the site.