A HIGH-CAPACITY power cable project in Chirk is set to cause 12 months of traffic disruption – but reduce strain on the town’s fragile energy grid.
Wood panel manufacturer Kronospan has secured planning permission to lay three cables across 4.8km to connect the site directly to the national grid via the Legacy to Oswestry 132 kiloVolt overhead line.
The cables – two 132kV and a fibre cable – will reduce the amount of power Kronospan draws from Chirk’s domestic network, easing the pressure on the local grid.
But it will cause up to a year of rolling traffic disruption during excavation works – with some areas affected for two to three months.
“Kronospan is a major energy user and the existing grid infrastructure in the area is essentially fragile so it’s not meeting Kronospan’s demand,” said Matthew Phillips, Wrexham County Borough Council’s head of Planning and Development.
“That also essentially is adversely impacting the energy network that directly affects Chirk as well. This proposal builds additional resilience into the network.”
The traffic disruption anticipated is due to large trenches which need to be dug to lay the cables between the Kronospan substation and the overhead line near Pont y Blew.
The cable will be laid in 150-200m sections, with diversions in place to try to ensure all areas of Chirk remain accessible during works.
According to Chris Emery, Director of Operations at Kronospan, the proposals would cause some unavoidable disruption.
“This cable route completes a strategic decarbonisation investment for the Chirk site,” he said. “The route has been agreed with Scottish Power Energy Networks after months of negotiation and they have confirmed it is the only viable option.
“Cables will mostly be laid by open cut trenching, a wider trench to the south via Colliery Road and Pont y Blew and a narrower trench to the north via Black Park.
“At three sensitive locations, Chirk Bypass, the Brynkynallt Tunnel and Pont y Blew Culvert, we propose horizontal directional drilling (HDD), a safe, established technique that avoids impact on heritage features and existing infrastructure.
“Although the programme runs for around 12 months, works will progress as a rolling operation, so only 120 to 150 metres of highway is active at any one time within a roughly 200 metre closure.
“Side roads will stay accessible via diversions or steel plating and we have already reached agreement in principle with local farms and the estate on business continuity.
“Some closures, mainly at the three sensitive HDD sites, are unavoidable, lasting 60 to 90 days.”
Chirk South Cllr Terry Evans expressed concerns about the length and scale of the disruption.
“I’m not objecting to the application,” he said. “However, I believe this will have a massive impact on the local community. I believe the proposed planning conditions are not strong enough to protect local residents and businesses.”
His request for works around Halton Farm and McDonald’s to take place between 8pm and 5am to minimise the impact would be considered by the Highway’s Authority when hours of work were submitted said officers.
The proposal was unanimously supported by the planning committee.
