A relative newcomer to the UK glass market, the Irish-owned company has built a 120m plant at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, offering a significant new outlet for recycled glass.
However, the plant has been subject to a legal wrangle over its planning permission granted by Chester city council in October 2003. The dispute resulted from a challenge by rival Rockware Glass, and saw the case being called in by the Deputy Prime Minister for a review in March 2005.
A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government, which has taken over the case from the Deputy Prime Minister, told letsrecycle.com yesterday that a decision is now approaching.
The spokesman said: “We are hoping to have a decision in the early part of December. But we can only stress that we hope it will be then as it is not an exact science.”
Dispute
There has been some frustration that the review has taken as long as it has, but it is thought that the issue of possible job losses caused by the decision may have led to the cautious approach by government.
It is understood that the dispute centres around a move by Quinn Glass to expand its glass plant beyond the scope of its original planning permission while seeking fresh planning permission.
The Quinn Glass plant, a 70,000 square metre facility which has been supported by the North West Development Agency, may have to cease operations if the government's decision does not go its way.
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The glass industry is now anxiously awaiting the verdict, which could significantly affect business strategies, and some current plans are on hold until the judgement is made.
Quinn Glass itself has declined to comment on the case until the decision is made.
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