By BRIAN TILLEY

Last updated 11:33, Friday, 22 August 2008

A FURTHER multi-million pound expansion is being planned at Hexham’s Egger UK chipboard factory, bringing with it 45 new jobs.

The Egger site in Hexham

The company wants to built a completely new timber processing plant on land to the east of the factory.

But the scheme has already set alarm bells ringing in the Oakwood and Anick area, where residents have long complained about noise and disturbance from the round-the-clock operations at the factory.

Residents fear the new plant will blight their lives even more.

The plant is already the district’s biggest private employer, and the new development will take the workforce beyond the 500 mark, with hundreds of other jobs in forestry and haulage dependant on the factory.

The Hexham site is already regarded as the most advanced particleboard plant in Europe, following the £110 million investment there in 2006.

The company is now seeking planning approval for a further substantial investment for the development of a timber processing facility on land to the east of the plant.

This land is safeguarded by Tynedale Council for employment-related development, and has been identified as being ideal for accommodating timber and forestry related companies.

Given its location next to the existing Egger plant and its proximity to timber supplies from Kielder Forest, the application seems tailor-made for success.

The multi-million pound investment would generate 45 jobs over the next few years, and further indirect jobs.

The new facility will process the melamine faced chipboard panels already produced at the existing plant.

The development is focused on efficiency and optimising the supply chain from Egger to its customer base, which includes furniture manufacturers and the building industry.

It will also enable the complete reuse of waste materials generated by the manufacturing process.

The scale of the proposed development is significantly smaller than the recent redevelopment of Egger’s existing plant.

It is expected that the proposed building will have a floor space of approximately 22,000 square metres, which is only around seven per cent of the total size of Egger’s existing site.

The development would take a year to build, although a start on the plant would depend on support through the planning process.

A spokesman for the Egger board of directors said: “Following our £110 million investment, which has secured the future of the Hexham plant and 460 direct employees, we are keen to evaluate this opportunity, despite the current tough economic climate in some of our customers’ markets.

“As well as the creation of 45 jobs and further indirect benefits, this investment would help the supply chain to become leaner, helping also to offset spiralling raw material costs and minimise waste.”

The views of local people will be taken into account, and Egger will undertake a public consultation exercise at the Queen’s Hall in Hexham prior to the submission of a full planning application.

It will take place Monday September 8 from 9 am to 7.30 pm, where plans of the proposed investment can be seen in more detail.

It is expected that a planning application will be submitted by the end of September.

An emergency meeting is being called of an action group in Anick to discuss the proposals.

Group member Ian Winkworth, of Oakwood, said: “This will cause major concern in the Anick area.

“Egger was granted consent for its new factory two years ago, and it is still not managing to adhere to all the planning conditions.

“The management tries to ensure that problems with noise and dust are dealt with, but the message does not seem to be getting through to staff.

“Soundproof doors are often left open, exposing the area to factory noise 24 hours per day.”

Egger has also lodged a separate application to reconfigure the site of the original factory, where demolition nears its end.