A COUNCIL leader has defended a controversial decision to refuse permission for plans worth £50m to build two large greenhouses in Wrexham.

Developers Low Carbon Farming claimed the scheme could deliver 150 jobs and supply 40 per cent of the tomatoes consumed in Wales.

Under the proposals, the company would have built two 7.6 hectare sized commercial greenhouses between Dwr Cymru’s Five Fords waste-water treatment works, near Marchwiel and SecAnim Abattoir.

The firm previously hit out at delays by Wrexham Council in deciding the application, which it said meant it had missed out on UK government tariffs.

Planning officers then announced their decision to deny permission for the project at the end of last month amid concerns about the scale of the development, as well as the impact on traffic and local wildlife.

Leader of Wrexham Council, Cllr Mark Pritchard, acknowledged the outcome had proved contentious, but said the local authority had to stick to planning rules.

He said: “I’ll be very careful what I say here because it has been a controversial discussion between businesses and planning.

“Myself as the leader, and I know officers and all elected members, always support investment which brings jobs into the local economy. That’s a given; we always do that.

“But in Wrexham we have a planning process, and we have to adhere to it.

“We have to go through those processes, and we have to go through those steps, no different from anywhere else.”

He added: “I know it’s been difficult, and I know there’s been lots of debates on it, but we should never ever go away from the planning process.

“Yes, we celebrate any announcement of jobs, or employment and investment coming to Wrexham, but we do have a planning process, and we have to adhere to it. I’m sure everybody in Wrexham across the county understands that.”

The structures, similar to two already being constructed by the company in East Anglia, would have been used to capture both waste heat and carbon emissions from the Dwr Cymru facility.

The intention was to then use them to grow significant quantities of low carbon fresh produce on site.

Andy Allen, a director at Low Carbon Farming, previously warned that permission needed to be achieved in September for the project to qualify for funding from the UK Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive.

However, the scheme was later rejected by officers using delegated powers, despite calls for it to be discussed by the council’s planning committee.