A WREXHAM developer looking to bring 150 green jobs to the county has called for the council to ‘apply common sense’ before their project ends up on the scrapheap.

Plans to build a £50m pair of cutting-edge sustainable greenhouses and bring long-term jobs to Wrexham rested upon the Low Carbon Farming project securing planning permission in September in order to qualify for vital revenue support from the UK Government.

Having intended - then failed - to table the application for discussion at the scheduled meeting of the council’s Planning Committee on September 7, council planners were asked by the project to consider arranging a second meeting in September to avoid losing the opportunity for the region by default.

That request was formally declined by planning officials in a meeting with project developers this week.

Despite confirming all responses from statutory consultees would be received by September 18, with no further information required from the applicant, and acknowledging the existential need for a decision in September, officials reiterated that “…the October meeting is the next meeting”.

Andy Allen, a director at Low Carbon Farming, said: “We have no interest in subverting procedure and are simply asking for a little ambition and pragmatism to be applied. This project would be the most technically advanced if its kind in Europe and would tackle local unemployment head on.

“It’s a very real opportunity this month and an impossibility next month. Surely these extraordinary circumstances merit a single Zoom call?

“We are appealing for councillors and council leaders, many of whom have already expressed privately their support for the convening of a special meeting, to intervene while there is still time to apply some common sense.

“The local residents, job seekers and commercial partners I’ve spoken to find it bewildering that our proposals could hit the scrapheap without a decision being taken”.

Low Carbon Farming is already working with Lantra to advance plans to re-train and employ the 71 Tyson Foods factory workers in a modern and low carbon agri-business.

The greenhouses, scheduled for construction in the spring, would capture both waste heat and carbon emissions from Dwr Cymru’s Five Fords Waste-Water Treatment Works and use them to grow up to 40 per cent of the tomatoes consumed in Wales.

The structures are similar in design to two Low Carbon Farming projects currently in construction in East Anglia but their path through the planning process has been very different.

Both East Anglian projects were awarded planning permission by officials without the need for determination from their respective Planning Committees.

The root cause of this marked difference became clear this week when Wrexham planning officials confirmed to the developer that their application is being treated as a ‘major commercial development’ and not, as was the case in England, as agricultural developments.

Andy added: “Our greenhouses in Norwich and Bury St Edmunds were assessed as agricultural developments because that is precisely what they are. Just as proposed for Wrexham, they will grow hundreds of tonnes of British tomatoes.

“Onsite facilities such as a car park and heating room do not change the simple fact that the primary purpose of the project is, quite clearly, agricultural.

“This matters because a classification as ‘major commercial development’ makes it considerably more difficult for our Wrexham project to achieve planning permission as officers believe commercial development should be on an industrial estate.

“Clearly our greenhouses need to be situated next to the sewage works in order to make use of its waste heat and carbon dioxide. Having spoken to officials in DEFRA, they confirm that horticultural operations are deemed as agriculture.”

When approached for comment, Wrexham Council stood by their original statement.

A Wrexham Council spokesperson said: "We have written to the applicant to outline our position which was initially made clear to them in June. Their application and expectations are extremely ambitious and, in many respects, unrealistic.

“The consultation process has raised issues and concerns which need further information and assessment. Until these are complete officers are unable to make a recommendation.

“We cannot circumvent the planning process in any way and we are currently going through the correct planning procedures which will be determined once this process is completed.”