Meetings

The Committee welcomed the responses received to the Committee’s inquiry report, and was grateful to the petitioner for providing a legacy statement, along with rebuttal responses to those official responses. The petitioner was congratulated for his work highlighting the issue.

Members welcomed the fact that the Welsh Government had only rejected one of the 11 report recommendations and provided a detailed rationale for doing so, and had supported the recommendations to Wrexham County Borough Council on improving communication and engagement with the local community. The inquiry had been an important exercise in ensuring accountability of all parties.

The Committee noted the additional actions requested by the lead petitioner, and agreed to forward his submission to the current Cabinet Secretary. Members also agreed to write to Enovert to ask if the petitioners could have access to the raw data, in the interests of transparency and further independent assessment, and to also ask whether Enovert could consider giving the data to an independent third party.

The matter had been scrutinised in great detail, but it would be for a new Cabinet Secretary and new scrutiny committee to take it forward in the Seventh Senedd. It was also noted that there were two other petitions in the pipeline relating to landfill management. In light of that, the Committee decided to close the petition.

Members discussed the draft report and agreed it subject to some amendments. The report would be translated and published after the Christmas recess. It was noted that responses to the report would not be available until later in the spring term, and Members agreed not to request a debate on the report.

Steve Gittins, Lead petitioner

The Committee heard evidence from lead petitioner Steve Gittins.

Steve Gittins, Lead petitioner

Panel 2: Enovert

• Mark Silvester, Chief Executive Officer
• Ian Craven, Regional Manager

The Committee heard evidence from Mark Silvester and Ian Craven of Enovert.

Panel 1: Wrexham Council & Natural Resources Wales

Natural Resources Wales:

• Sara Pearson, Operations Manager
• James McClymont, Industry and Waste Regulation Team Leader

Wrexham Council:

• Cllr Hugh Jones – Lead Member for Planning and Public Protection
• Charlie Pope – North Wales Minerals and Waste Planning Service
• Toby Zorn, Environmental Health & Housing Standards Team Lead

The Committee heard evidence from Sara Pearson and James McClymont of Natural Resources Wales, as well as Councillor Hugh Jones, Charlie Pope, and Toby Zorn from Wrexham Council.

The Committee considered the petition and agreed to undertake a short inquiry and invite Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Wrexham Council, and Enovert to give oral evidence on how they are addressing the petitioners’ concerns. It was proposed that this take place in the autumn term to allow time for further work by the Hafod stakeholder group and residents group, and for Enovert’s remediation measures to be fully implemented.

The Committee returned to discussion of the petition as it had been agreed that the clerk would update Members on whether other Committees could take on inquiry work in this area. Both the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee and the Local Government and Housing Committee indicated they were unable to do so due to other commitments including legislative timetables. Further correspondence from the petitioners and Enovert was noted, as was a meeting between Wrexham Council, Enovert and NRW. In light of this, Members agreed to defer a decision on further action given the absence of two Members, including the Chair, who was a local Member with an interest in the issue. Item to be discussed again at the next meeting.

The Committee considered the petition and noted the substantial evidence provided by the petitioner and that Natural Resources Wales are taking measures to deal with non-compliance issues at the site. Members noted the Cabinet Secretary has been clear that he will not direct the closure of the Hafod site, and that this is at odds with the petitioner’s goal.

The Committee agreed that the clerk would explore with the clerks of the relevant subject scrutiny Committees – Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure and Local Government and Housing – whether those committees would be able to scrutinise the matter further as part of their forward work programmes. Members noted that an inquiry would need to involve the business, the regulator and the local authority in addition to the community concerned, and the legislative scrutiny commitments of those Committees at this point in the Senedd term was a factor to consider. The clerk would report back to Members at the next Committee meeting.