E-mail received by the Planning Inspectorate from Patricia Jones:
I am writing to express my objection to the proposed building of a gas
fired power station on the Wrexham Industrial Estate. I live in Cross
Lanes, quite close to the Industrial Estate and have concerns on a
number of fronts. The following summarises my concerns.
Firstly that this is the wrong place for a power station because:
? It would be unsightly, being so tall and being surrounded by
beautiful countryside
? All the proposed sites are too close to houses, schools and other
businesses ? this is a worry because of noise, potential other
forms of pollution and general wellbeing
? There is no reason to site it in the Industrial Estate, in Wrexham or
in fact, in Wales at all, given that Wales already creates
more power than it consumes
? Neither the job benefits for the local population nor the electricity
benefits for Wrexham stand up to scrutiny
Secondly it is the wrong kind of power station:
? It burns fossil fuels, which is against the principles developed by
the Welsh Government for construction development
? I have heard that these kind of power stations may become illegal in
the future
? Gas would have to be piped miles to the power station, incurring even
more environmental harm
? We are all trying to reduce our carbon footprint ? this flies on the
face of all we are striving to achieve
Thirdly, I have concerns over the pylons, in whichever corridor they
lie:
? They are too big and unsightly for this kind of an area
? There are concerns about environmental impact and noise
? They are planned to go through protected natural areas.
Fourthly I am very angry that Wrexham Council has supported a
consortium of businesses,
? some of whom have offshore headquarters and may not therefore be
paying their full share of corporation tax to this country
? does not even have a track record of working together
? does not have any proven track record in constructing and running
this kind of plant.
Lastly, I am very concerned about the lack of information and the poor
way in which the pre-consultation was carried out.
? Houses in the local area that were not in villages were not
leafleted, often those closest to the proposed site
? The responses to the points raised by local residents were not
adequately answered, often indicating that the answers to our
points were not even available yet - obviously we
are concerned that when they are ?ready? it will be too late
? There was no information provided about noise pollution, which is one
of my main concerns
? There were a lot of ?leading? questions which I consider to be a very
poor way to consult and certainly is not best practice
according to the Welsh Government.
It appears that this gas fired power station development has been
motivated not by the general well being and prosperity of local
residents, which should be the business of the council, but by hurried,
pragmatic decision-making and private profit.
I would be grateful if you would respond to this email, answering each
of the points made.

Thank you for your e-mail dated 20 May 2013 in regard to the above project. Your e-mail is useful for us to monitor emerging issues in response to a pre-application proposal. As you may be aware, however, The Planning Inspectorate can accept this letter for information purposes only at this stage.
The proposed Wrexham Energy Centre is currently at the pre-application stage and is expected to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in late 2013. I therefore encourage you to contact the developer directly at this stage of the process as this is the best time to influence a project. I am aware that, to date the applicant has carried out informal consultation on this project.
At the pre-application stage of the process, the developer is required to carry out extensive statutory consultation (under s42, 44 and 47 of the Planning Act 2008) on the proposals before submitting their application to the Planning Inspectorate. This involves providing information about the proposal to various statutory and non-statutory bodies and the wider community, responding to questions, listening to suggestions and taking these into account to influence and inform the application ultimately submitted. The length of time taken to prepare and consult on the project will vary depending upon its scale and complexity.
As you have raised concerns at the level of consultation you may wish to contact your local authority as they will have the opportunity to report on their view of the adequacy of the developer?s pre-application consultation, when the application is formally submitted. The local authority also is consulted by the applicant on the content of its Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC). This is a statement setting out how the applicant proposes to consult the community about the proposed application. The local authority has valuable experience in consultation and knowledge of the local community which can be fed into this SoCC.
Once the application has been formally submitted to the Planning Inspectorate a period of 28 days is given to decide whether to ?accept? the application to proceed to Examination. Part of this assessment will consider whether the applicant has adequately complied with their duty to consult and have taken account of any relevant responses from persons they are required to consult under s42, 44 and 47 of the Planning Act 2008.
I have enclosed copies of the following Planning Inspectorate Advice Notes which may be of interest to you. These include further information on the planning process.
Advice note 8.1: How the process works
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Advice note 8.2: Responding to the developer?s pre-application consultation
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