Kronospan single regulator minded to issue consultation
Overview
We are minded to issue the variation notice and consolidated permit. We will only issue the consolidated permit if we believe that significant pollution will not be caused. Any permit we grant will include appropriate conditions to protect human health and the environment.
Application number: PAN-002755
Regulated facility location: Chirk Particleboard Factory, Holyhead Road, Chirk, Wrexham, LL14 5NT
Background
Kronospan Limited have been operating a particleboard and medium density fibreboard (MDF) manufacturing plant in Chirk, North Wales for many years. The activities involved in manufacturing the boards have required several environmental permits to control the levels of potentially harmful emissions resulting from the activities and to ensure that the techniques used are in line with technical advances and industry standards. These standards are known as ‘Best Available Techniques’ (BAT).
The activities at the Installation (site) that are regulated by the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 (EPR) have been the subject of various Directions from Government. Most notably, the first Direction was in 2003 which split that regulation between Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC) and the Environment Agency Wales (now subsumed into Natural Resources Wales (NRW)).
In March 2018 the Welsh Government issued a further Direction (the ‘2018 Direction’) which required NRW to consolidate the two existing permits for the site into one, and then subsequently conduct all regulatory functions in relation to that permit.
This will essentially ‘normalise’ the regulation of the site, in that all relevant activities will be regulated by a single environmental regulator, NRW. After the consolidated permit is issued, WCBC will no longer regulate activities at the site, which will no longer be subject to a Ministerial Direction.
Draft permit variation and consolidation
NRW have completed the variation and consolidation of the two regulators’ permits and are minded to issue. We have provided draft documents for review and public consultation.
We have completed our extensive determination of activities and through the course of our scrutiny, we have requested a significant amount of further information from the operator to carry out our detailed assessments. Our final request was for the operator to submit a fully consolidated air dispersion modelling report, so that we could audit predicted releases from the whole site, including from plant and process investments at the site since October 2014, when the current version of the WCBC permit was issued. This provides a baseline for all emissions to air from the whole site which allowed us to carry out a full human health and ecological assessment of releases to air from the site.
The consolidated draft permit also brings about a full review of conditions and limits to ensure compliance with EPR, the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and BAT.
Note - Kronospan’s original variation application also contained a proposal for a new oriented strand board (OSB) production line, which does not form part of the current determination and hence variation notice and consolidated draft permit.
Why your views matter
We understand this permit variation and consolidation is of particular interest to the public and local community. We are required legally to consult with the public on substantial variations for installations.
This is your chance to view the draft variation notice, draft permit, the draft decision document and other supporting documents and respond to our consultation with your comments. You can view the documents on our online public register, the draft decision document and draft permit documents are available to view at the bottom of this consultation page. We have also provided one application document which we consider key to this determination and a frequently asked questions document below.
Events
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Face to face drop in session at Chirk Town Hall
From 28 Jun 2022 at 14:00 to 28 Jun 2022 at 20:00We will be holding two face to face drop in sessions. You can book a 15 minute session to talk to our staff within a half-hour window. Appointments for the sessions must be booked in advance, no later than 26 June 2022, using the booking link below.
If you are having trouble with the booking system, you can call 0300 065 3383 within office hours and by 24 June 2022 to book an appointment.
During your appointment, you will be given the opportunity to raise any queries you have regarding the draft permit and decision document. You will get more out of your appointment if you have previewed these documents, along with our public participation statement. These documents may answer some of your questions or trigger further questions. -
Face to face drop in session at Chirk Town Hall
From 29 Jun 2022 at 10:00 to 29 Jun 2022 at 16:00We will be holding two face to face drop in sessions. You can book a 15 minute session to talk to our staff within a half-hour window. Appointments for the sessions must be booked in advance, no later than 26 June 2022, using the booking link below.
If you are having trouble with the booking system, you can call 0300 065 3383 within office hours and by 24 June 2022 to book an appointment.
During your appointment, you will be given the opportunity to raise any queries you have regarding the draft permit and decision document. You will get more out of your appointment if you have previewed these documents, along with our public participation statement. These documents may answer some of your questions or trigger further questions.
Areas
- Chirk North
- Chirk South
Audiences
Interests
- Permits
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