Last updated at 11:22, Friday, 23 October 2009

Cumbria is ideally placed to benefit from a rejuvenated nuclear industry.

That’s the view of Robert Hough, the new chairman of government funding arm, the Northwest Regional Development Agency.

The NWDA has an annual budget of £421m. Virtually all major public-sector investment projects depend on its support.

Through its offshoot, Cumbria Vision, the NWDA underwrites the Energy Coast Masterplan and Barrow Waterfront, a £200m scheme to transform redundant dockland in the town.

Mr Hough took up the post in August, taking over from Bryan Gray who now chairs Carlisle Renaissance – another NWDA project.

He said: “The north west is the best-placed region to deliver nuclear in the UK. Cumbria should be perceived as a centre for expertise and that knowledge can be exported all over the world. Nuclear has shifted from being a highly-controversial power source to something that is welcomed positively in Britain and Europe.

“Cumbria has to build on its strengths – the nuclear industry, tourism, the rural economy and the potential of Carlisle.”

Mr Hough, 64, is a lawyer by profession and a director of Peel Holdings, the owner of Liverpool Airport.

First published at 13:15, Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk