Huge redevelopment of Shotton Paper Mill creating nearly 700 jobs recommended for approval

Plans to ‘repurpose’ Shotton Paper Mill which will see nearly 700 new jobs created have been recommended for approval.

The £600m redevelopment of the Deeside Industrial Estate site will create one of the most advanced technology paper mills in the world.

Finnish firm UPM sold the Shotton paper mill site to Turkish industrial conglomerate Eren Holdings in May 2021.

Eren plans to use equipment from the current facilities and incorporate state-of-the-art technology to create one of the biggest paper mills in the UK.

The former newsprint site will pivot to manufacturing containerboard and tissue with a combined capacity of nearly one million tonnes per year.

New development with the main paper mill site will consist of:

-Paper Machine Building will have four floors and will house the Paper Machine and other plant and machinery, along with officers and control rooms

-Corrugating Machine Building will house the Corrugating Machine and is the largest proposed building on the Site

-New Warehouse and Dispatch Area

-Starch Process and Storage Building

-Effluent Treatment Facility

-Old Corrugated Cardboard Recycling Building

The site will also be expanded to land lying between the operational paper mill and the A548.

This will see a number of new buildings constructed for producing jumbo rolls of tissue.

The granting of planning permission will be subject to a number of conditions including the submission of a reptile mitigation scheme.

Common lizards have been recorded on-site and “reptile avoidance and mitigation measures are proposed.”

Eren will also have to financially contribute towards a new footway/ cycleway along the front of Weighbridge Road connecting to National Cycle Network 568.

It will also have to fund the installation of an extension to the double yellow lines onto part of the Weighbridge Road frontage.

In his report, which will go before a planning committee next week, Flintshire Council’s Chief Planning Officer Andrew Farrow :

“This application seeks planning permission for the redevelopment and expansion of Shotton Paper Mill to provide a new modernised paper mill facility.”

“The development consists of 82 hectares of new paper factory buildings and processing plant along with associated landscaping, offices, access and parking.”

“The scale and nature of the proposal is such that the development falls within Schedule 2 of the EIA regulations.”

“The application site is located within Deeside Industrial Park and benefit from and existing use as a paper mill, along with an allocation for further industrial development. Construction and operational phases of the development could give rise environmental impacts.”

“The application is supported by comprehensive studies and evidence to prove that subject to appropriate mitigation there will be no noticeable impact arising from the development.”

“Whilst the scale of the development cannot be underestimated, particularly the building heights, the site lies with existing industrial units and within the context of Deeside Industrial Park. Careful incorporation of design choices and layout minimise any impact on the wider landscape or historical assets.”

“For the reasons outlined above it is considered that the proposal satisfies planning policy and I therefore recommend that planning permission is granted subject to the imposition of conditions and financial contributions.

The application will be considered by councillors at a meeting on Wednesday, October 26, 2022.