Jobs boost as factory to expand
A FACTORY in South Wales is planning to bring a production line back into use for the first time in a decade – creating 65 new jobs.
Rockwool Ltd says the expansion at its Pencoed plant is necessary to cope with growing demand for its non-combustible insulation products across the UK and Europe. The company, which has run the factory for around 40 years, employs about 400 people.
In 2007 the building insulation and cladding firm built a new chimney and extended the factory in order to increase production but the financial crash in 2008 led to a drop in demand and the production line was mothballed.
It has now submitted a planning application to Bridgend County Council to build a new 20-acre concrete hardstanding area for external storage of materials, a parking area for lorries and a new vehicular access off Wern Tarw Road.
The plans also involve a building for drivers, with toilets, dining area, meeting room and storage area as well as a security cabin and a garage for forklifts.
Due to the different site levels, a conveyor belt will transfer the products between the factory and the storage area.
Calling the application in to be decided by the development control committee, ward councillor Alex Williams said local residents had environmental, air quality and noise concerns.
He said: “I understand that the additional capacity which this will give Rockwool will mean that 200,000 tonnes of Rockwool will be able to be produced per annum rather than the current 125,000 tonnes and HGV traffic will increase from 6.5 vehicles per hour to approximately 11 vehicles.
“In a post-Grenfell political context, there is a move to ensure that all high rise buildings have non-combustible cladding and I understand that Rockwool is one of the only providers to make this product in the UK. I am sure we would all be supportive of Rockwool’s commitment to use local contractors in the work to expand the plant and the additional high quality jobs which will be created as a result of the expansion.
“However, there are still issues which need to be addressed during the planning process in my view.”
Coychurch Higher Community Council has raised concerns over the increase in lorries to the site and the noise from the new conveyor belt which would run 24 hours a day.
The company says the new access and storage area which includes parking bays and loading areas would remove the bottleneck at the current site entrance opposite Wern Fawr Road and reduce the number of trucks passing through the existing access from an estimated 6.5 trucks per hour to 3.6 trucks.
It says that lorry traffic will increase overall but there will be less traffic at the main entrance due to the separation of lorries delivering the raw material to the factory and those transporting the product away from the site.
It also points out that the new conveyor will be enclosed and insulated so noise should not be an issue. Officers have recommended the plans for approval.