Welsh disappointment as Shotton loses out to Aylesford

Shotton Paper on Deeside is thought to have been shortlisted, along with Aylesford, for a grant of up to 20m to expand its capacity. It had proposed modifications to its existing paper machines as well as construction of a new-de-inking facility. Detailed talks took place over the last few months with the Welsh Development Agency, including the zoning of extra land for the plant. Members of the Welsh Assembly have also been involved in supporting the Shotton bid. The Shotton bid was seen as being of benefit to the local economy which is in a development area, whereas Aylesford is not.

Insiders say that the ability of the Welsh Assembly to lobby in favour of the Shotton project was reduced because the government was not assessing the bid for the grant itself. Instead Environment Minister Michael Meacher had allocated the project to WRAP and WRAP itself used a non-political independent team of experts to assess submissions. However, other sources are of the view that the government could have had an input into the final decision.

A spokesman for the Welsh Development Agency said: “The Welsh Development Agency had supported Shotton Paper’s bid for the WRAP Grant and the news that they have not been selected is particularly disappointing. Representatives of the Agency will be meeting with the company’s management to discuss the situation and to offer any support that we can provide.”

Aylesford Newsprint has welcomed the decision to select it as preferred bidder. Company Secretary Donald Charlesworth said the company “is pleased to have been chosen.” And, he praised WRAP's careful approach to the assessment of the submissions. He added that it was also a reflection of the commitment of all the company's staff and workforce. Aylesford currently recycles 500,000 tonnes of paper in total per year and newspapers and magazines from households make up over 80% of this; the remainder comes from publisher's returns and press rooms.

Jonathan Shaw, Labour MP for Aylesford, who takes a keen interest in the paper industry said: “This is a testament to the determination that Aylesford have shown for increasing their reprocessing capacity. The plans are sound and I am confident that they will be able to deliver the further capacity the country needs.”