A £15m investment to create a new factory, the first of its kind, at the forefront of food technology is recommended for approval.
The Naylor Farms development on land near Rangell Gate, Low Fulney, would see a facility to extract protein from plant sources.
The technology would recover ingredients which can be further used within plant-based sectors including bakery, dietary supplements and nutritional drinks.
The application is due to go before members of South Holland District Council’s planning committee on Wednesday (December 15) and members are recommended to back the idea.
“The view of the council’s Inward Investment team is that the proposal from Naylor Farms aligns closely with the council’s own economic strategy to support investment in the agri-food sector that drives innovation and productivity,” says the report.
A total of 43 jobs will be created as a result of the development, planning committee members will be told.
The site is adjacent to the A16 and is mostly undeveloped. Access is off Low Road.
Two barns will be demolished and the main plant will have a ground floor area of 2,222sq m.
Once constructed it would also have parking for 49 cars along with 14 covered cycle spaces.
The plant will extract protein from cabbages grown at the farm.
According to the report, the application was time-sensitive as the facility needs to be operational by this time next year.
“The facility will be the first worldwide to produce this new product. To stay ahead and ensure that this facility remains a market leaders in this type of plant-based protein extraction,” says the report.
During the construction stage there will be 20 full time equivalent jobs.
Once complete there would be jobs across the range, from management to machine operators.
“It is anticipated that £2.2m will be generated annually in South Holland,” the report adds.
Among objections to the application are fears over the visual impact of the building, loss of agricultural land, noise and light pollution.
It was also suggested that the Food Enterprise Zone at Holbeach would be a better location for the factory.
“While it is accepted that the site falls outside of a designated employment area and that simply having other land in the ownership of the applicant is not sufficient justification, there are very specific matters to this case,” the report says.
A visual impact assessment concludes that ‘on balance’ the proposals would have a limited effect on the landscape. It refers to ‘generous’ tree planting along boundaries.
The highway authority has been consulted and has no objection to the application.
“The site is well located for access to the principal highway network and is served by existing footways to allow convenient pedestrian access to and from the centre of Spalding,” the report says.
