Rhosesmor firelighter warehouse and Deeside carbon capture plant recommended for approval
Flintshire councillors will decide on Wednesday whether to approve a firelighter storage warehouse near homes in Rhosesmor and a carbon capture plant at a Deeside waste incinerator. Council planning officers recommend approving both. Both applications were deferred at earlier meetings. The planning committee meets at County Hall, Mold, at 1pm on 4 November.
The Rhosesmor warehouse
Tiger Tim Products Ltd, which makes firelighters and barbecue ignition products and has been in Rhosesmor for about 30 years, wants to demolish a warehouse and an office building and put up a new storage building with offices, a canteen and staff facilities. The council sent 74 neighbour letters and received 47 objections. They raise overlooking, the height of the building and the health and safety risk of storing more flammable material near homes. The nearest houses on Wern Road are about 34 to 60 metres from the proposed office block. The committee deferred the application on 15 July after a site visit, asking for advice from Cadw on the nearby Moel y Gaer hillfort, more consultation with North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, and a look at smell and noise from the site.
What the experts said
Cadw has raised no objection. It says the new building, about six metres higher than the one it replaces, would be visible from the scheduled monument but seen in the context of the existing factory. The fire service also raised no objection and says it will comment on fire safety measures inside the building through Building Regulations. Council pollution officers say smell and noise from the site are within acceptable limits. Officers say the scheme would not increase production at the site and would reduce the company’s reliance on storage elsewhere. Both ward councillors are expected to attend to set out their concerns.
Carbon capture at Parc Adfer
Energy-from-waste operator enfinium wants to fit a carbon capture plant to its Parc Adfer plant on Deeside Industrial Park. The plant burns about 232,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste a year and generates about 21MW of electricity. The report says the plant is designed to capture up to 95% of the facility’s carbon dioxide, about 241,000 tonnes a year, which would be piped to the HyNet network for storage under Liverpool Bay. The pipeline is not part of this application. The new stack would be up to 95 metres high, compared with 85 metres for the existing one. The council has received 51 letters of representation. Over half object to carbon capture or the HyNet project in principle. The application was deferred on 7 October for consultation with Natural England, Cheshire West and Chester Council and communities over the border.
276 homes in Ewloe
Also on the agenda, officers recommend approving 276 homes, including 110 affordable homes, on land at Holywell Road and Green Lane in Ewloe by Castlegreen Homes. The recommendation depends on a legal agreement including £759,934 for primary schools and £831,105 for secondary schools.