The chairman of Chirk Town Council has criticised a local factory’s “lack of effort” in improving communication with the community.

Councillor Brian Colley says he and other town councillors have been left frustrated at the lack of progress made with regards to the formation of a new liaison group, designed to provide better communication with Kronospan.

The factory vowed to improve communication with the community after a large fire on its site in January which lasted for four days.

A new liaison group was to be formed, but is currently in limbo after representatives from Kronospan and Chirk Town Council failed to agree terms of reference at a meeting last week.

Cllr Colley says the council put forward their suggested terms of reference in July, but had no official response from the factory until last week’s meeting, when Kronospan representatives revealed they do not agree with some of the suggestions made by the council.

Cllr Colley said: “It was appalling from the start.

“The agenda was put out and one of the items was to discuss the terms of reference for the new Chirk/Kronospan Liaison Group.

“We discussed these terms of reference at Chirk Town Council at a meeting in July, and we unanimously voted to inform Kronospan about what we wanted from the terms of reference.

“Our clerk sent a letter to Kronospan informing them of the five points in the terms of reference which Chirk Town Council had agreed from July 29.

“We had an acknowledgement of the email back, but no response.

“So at the meeting last week, they told us they don’t agree with the terms of reference we have asked for.

“We have wasted from the end of July until now to find out they don’t agree with our points.”

The council chairman criticised the software on which the virtual meeting was held, saying it did not allow effective and clear communication between those in attendance.

After a meeting in July, the council agreed to put forward five changes to the terms of reference.

They asked for meetings to be held at a neutral venue and to be held quarterly, while they asked for an independent chairman for the group.

The council also wanted more representation by increasing their membership from four representatives to six, and wanted the name of the group to be changed to Chirk and Kronospan Environmental Liaison Group.

Although Kronospan representatives agreed to some aspects of the terms of reference, they failed to agree to the name change and increased membership for Chirk Town Council.

Cllr Colley sees the factory’s inability to agree on certain points as “frustrating”, and believes bosses’ actions do not match with their promise to improve communication.

“In the end, I had to register a failure to agree and they will now respond and we will have to reconsider the matter at the next Chirk Town Council meeting,” he said.

“Until they respond properly, we can’t progress with this liaison group.

“As things stand, if we can’t agree terms of reference going forward, then the group is in limbo.

“We have had ample time for this to have been sorted since July, it’s just time wasted and we’re just so frustrated about it.

“I think it has been handled very poorly and it doesn’t give the community of Chirk full recognition or respect.

“They are committed to improving communication with the community of Chirk, that was their main goal after the fire in January, and this is how they treat us – it’s a total lack of communication.

“Their actions aren’t backing up their claim to improve communication.”

Cllr Colley added: “I’m hoping the terms can be agreed and we can find a way forward.

“There’s no point in not having these liaison meetings, it is about understanding things from both sides and discuss ways forward with certain problems.

“We are committed to the group, but we’re finding it extremely frustrating that we can’t progress at the moment.”

A spokesman for Kronospan said: “Chirk Town Council raised five points with Kronospan regarding the terms of reference of the proposed Kronospan Liaison Group meeting.

“We have agreed changes to three of the five specific issues they raised.

“At the meeting of Chirk Environmental Liaison Group on Tuesday, October 13 we agreed that we would write to Chirk Town Council to confirm the changes, and to outline the reasoning behind the other two points that they had raised.

“That letter has been sent on Friday, October 16 to allow for discussion to take place at the next town council meeting.”