NRW becomes sole regulator for Chirk Particleboard Factory

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has now become the single environmental regulator for the Kronospan site in Chirk and will conduct all future regulatory functions in relation to its permit.

On 4 October 2022, NRW completed the variation and consolidation of the two regulators’ permits, following a consultation on a draft permit that launched in June, and issued the operator with a consolidated permit.

The final permit and our detailed decision document are available on our on-line public register.

Kronospan Limited have been operating a particleboard and medium density fibreboard (MDF) manufacturing plant in Chirk, North Wales for many years.

In March 2018 the Welsh Government issued a Direction which required NRW to consolidate the two regulators’ (Wrexham County Borough Council and NRW) existing permits for the site into one, with NRW becoming the sole regulator.

Lyndsey Rawlinson, NRW Head of Operations for North East Wales, said:

“The future regulation of Kronospan has always been an important issue for the local community. Becoming sole regulators for the site allows us to ensure that the operators comply with relevant standards thereby protecting human health and the environment. This will also help ensure consistency whilst offering a single point of contact for the operator, local community and stakeholders.

"The permit includes a number of improvement conditions for the operator to implement over the next 18 months. We will be working closely with Kronospan to ensure that these improvements are made.”

Read our latest position statement.