Green light for multi-million pound metal recycling facility

Alec Doyle, local democracy reporter

A new £13.5 million metal recycling sorting facility has been given approval.

Hydro Aluminium Deeside sought permission for the facility – which will increase scrap metal waste sorting and processing capacity to 100,000 tonnes per year – next to its existing aluminium recycling plant.

The proposed building on Wrexham Industrial Estate will have a floor area of 2,878 square metres and would be approximately 15.7m high. This will match the height of the existing facility, which sorts and smelts scrap aluminium to create blocks of recycled metal that are used in manufacturing.

It will increase scrap metal capacity by 30,000 tonnes per year.

The new sorting facility will be situated just 120m from the 100-home Pentre Maelor estate, with a buffer zone between the two sites. According to planning officers there would be no major increase in noise nuisance or traffic for nearby residents.

Officers recommended approval of the scheme having found no areas of significant concern.

Wrexham County Borough Council’s planning committee chair, Cllr Mike Morris, was not as positive about the proposal.

“I don’t share officers’ optimism that it is going to be problem-free,” he said.

“I remember when it was Deeside Aluminium in the ’90s, we spent over a decade as an authority trying to get things put right there that were wrong.

“I must however admit that since Hydro took over complaints have dropped.

“But it is a 24/7 operation due to the furnaces and I hope if they’re taking scrap in the noise conditions we’ve got are adequate to cover it because people deserve some respite from the noise.

“I don’t want to object but I also don’t want to make it any worse for the residents.”

Traffic concerns

Abenbury Community Council raised concerns over traffic around the site and the impact upon the amenity of nearby residential properties, ongoing issues with lorries and other vehicles queuing to access the plant along Bridge Road and Bridge Road South and requested planning conditions be imposed if planning permission is granted to secure measures to limit noise and traffic impact.

The Highways department said traffic would be monitored and planning conditions relating to HGV movements would minimise problems for residents.

“The overall impact on traffic is low, even at peak times,” they wrote. “However one of the conditions that has been added has been relating to the concerns about HGVs stacking up on Bridge Road South. The condition requires them to have procedures in place to schedule deliveries across a greater time to prevent this.”

Despite the concerns raised the application was approved unanimously.