WREXHAM could lose £22m of investment if HLC is theted planning permission to build and run a resource recovery centre on the town's industrial estate.
Kellogg's and Calypso lead a group of 16 companies which employ half of the workforce on the site and have submitted a petition-style letter to Wrexham County Borough Council, the WDA, the Welsh Assembly, the Environment Agency and Chester City Council.
In it they highlight their objections to the HLC application and say £22m-worth of investment is being withheld and will be spent outside Wrexham if HLC gets the go-ahead.
The letter reads: 'We are environmentally responsible companies and support initiatives to reduce land-fill.
'However, we also believe Government targets can be achieved without resorting to questionable thermal treatments such as incineration or pyrolysis. 'It's unlikely many of us would have located our business here if such a facility was already established and we urge you to consider the potential negative impact on the estate and future investment in the Wrexham area should the application receive a favourable response.
'In particular, we ask you to consider that several of us were attracted to Wrexham by the clean environment we currently enjoy.
'We share Wrexham Council's view of the estate as a high profile, prestigious, strategic employment site and find it inconceivable you would want to jeopardise this by granting HLC planning permission.
'Several companies on the estate are already withholding investment pending the outcome of HLC's application...if granted, this investment (in excess of £22m) will be placed elsewhere.'
In response HLC says it had tried to have a dialogue with companies on the estate early in the process.
A company statement said: 'A number of the largest employers were specifically invited to comment on a detailed document outlining all the environmental issues HLC intended to examine when submitting the planning application.
'None responded, including Kellogg's, Calypso and Pirelli Cables. This would have provided an opportunity to address any issues they may have raised.
'Subsequently at least one of the companies, Kellogg's, submitted a list of objections to Wrexham Council. HLC has responded by again trying to initiate a discussion and has offered to carry out a joint environmental technical assessment with Kellogg's own consultants - this has so far not been accepted.
'Businesses on the estate were also invited to an exhibition where they had the opportunity to speak at length to individual members of the HLC team. 'The industrial estate contains businesses that are engaged in various commercial and industrial processes. If approved we would be neighbours to an aluminium smelter, a clinical waste incinerator, an animal byproducts company, waste recovery facilities and food processing industries.
'HLC will be responding to all individual companies who have expressed concerns. We are confident, if they assess the proposals objectively and season.ently, that they will conclude pyrolysis and gasification is a clean and safe method of waste disposal.
'All aspects will, in any case, be subject to a thorough analysis by the Environment Agency, whose approval will be necessary before construction can begin.' TRAIL OF TEARS: Wrexham fans make their way to Saturday's final home game of the season.
