Hunterston A site

Councillor Rita Holmes

Chair

I am Chair of Fairlie Community Council and have been a member for over 15 years.

I moved to Fairlie in 1972 and my children were born in 1974 and 1975 and worked for 22 years as a primary school teacher. Latterly, I taught science to all age groups from nursery to Primary 7.

I lived in America for two years and in Italy for one year when my husband was on assignments with IBM.

In the 1980s, I helped set up the Ayrshire Radiation Monitoring Group which were also involved in discussions in 2004/5 on setting up the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and site stakeholder groups.

I have been Chair of Hunterston SSG for nearly ten years.

I believe SSGs are effective when members are comfortable in scrutinising the nuclear industry, giving credit where credit is due and ensuring local people understand the options presented to them.

I believe it is vital the regulators continue to maintain their independence.

I am a member of the BEIS/NGO Forum and the ONR/NGO Forum and look forward to the NDA/NGO Forum being set up.

My focus remains on the safe clean-up of the Hunterston nuclear sites for the benefit of the workers, local people and the environment.