Residents face year of roadworks as power network gets major upgrade

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

Drivers and residents face up to 12 months of rolling road closures after councillors approved a major electricity infrastructure project designed to strengthen the local power network.

The scheme in Chirk will connect wood panel manufacturer Kronospan directly to the National Grid via almost five kilometres of underground cable, reducing the strain the factory places on the town’s electricity supply.

Planning permission has been granted for two 132kV cables and a fibre optic cable to be laid over a 4.8km route between the Kronospan site and the Legacy to Oswestry 132kV overhead line near Pont y Blew.

Planning officers said the project would improve the resilience of the local network by allowing Kronospan, one of the area’s biggest energy users, to draw power directly from the National Grid rather than relying on infrastructure that also serves homes and businesses.

Matthew Phillips, Wrexham County Borough Council’s head of planning and development, told the planning committee: “Kronospan is a major energy user and the existing grid infrastructure in the area is essentially fragile, so it’s not meeting Kronospan’s demand.

“That is also adversely impacting the energy network that directly affects Chirk as well. This proposal builds additional resilience into the network.”

The work will require large trenches to be dug along the route, with construction progressing in sections of between 150 and 200 metres. Diversions will be put in place to keep the town accessible while the work is carried out, although some locations could be affected for two to three months.

Kronospan’s director of operations, Chris Emery, acknowledged the project would cause disruption but said the route was the only viable option agreed with Scottish Power Energy Networks after months of negotiations.

He said the cable would complete a “strategic decarbonisation investment” at the Chirk site.

Most of the route will be installed using open-cut trenching, while horizontal directional drilling will be used beneath the Chirk Bypass, Brynkynallt Tunnel and Pont y Blew Culvert to avoid disturbing existing infrastructure and heritage features.

Mr Emery said that although the overall programme would last around a year, only around 120 to 150 metres of highway would be under active construction at any one time.

He added that side roads would remain accessible using diversions or steel road plates where possible, and that agreements had been reached in principle with local farms and the estate to minimise disruption to businesses.

Some road closures, particularly at the three drilling locations, will be unavoidable and could last between 60 and 90 days.

Impact

Local councillor Terry Evans supported the scheme but voiced concerns about its impact on residents and businesses.

“I’m not objecting to the application,” he said. “However, I believe this will have a massive impact on the local community. I believe the proposed planning conditions are not strong enough to protect local residents and businesses.”

He asked whether work near Halton Farm and the McDonald’s restaurant could take place overnight, between 8pm and 5am, to reduce disruption. Planning officers said that request would be considered by the highways authority when detailed construction hours are submitted.

The planning committee unanimously approved the application.