Falkirk councillors back fight to save Grangemouth oil refinery as closure looms

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Falkirk councillors have backed calls for a fight to save Grangemouth 's oil refinery from closure in 2025. The motion, proposed by Councillor James Bundy, asked Falkirk Council to step in if the Scottish Government does not produce an economic impact assessment of what closure would mean.

But the meeting was told by Michael McGuinness, Falkirk Council 's head of climate change and growth, that the council is already liaising with Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise as they prepare an economic impact assessment. Read more: Staff absences costing Falkirk Council £25k a day as £11 million bill revealed Councillor Bundy's motion also criticised a lack of transparency from the Grangemouth Future Industry Board (GFIB) which brings together public bodies including UK and Scottish governments and Falkirk Council.The SNP council leader, Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, who is a member of GFIB, stressed that it is not a council body and there are elements that cannot be shared in the public domain.However, she added that the government minister has made commitments that the board will meet more often and its membership will be increased."We don't have an end date for the refinery yet but we do have the opportunity to plan for the future to ensure that there are no job losses and people are able to transition into alternative employment and our chemical industry in Grangemouth can thrive in a new, greener environment," she said.There was much agreement from councillors of all parties who agreed the need for Grangemouth to move away from oil and gas in the longer term while introducing green technology to keep highly skilled and well paid jobs in the area.Major projects currently being planned for Grangemouth include the