Erection of a cheese factory/dairy together with an ancillary cafe and visitors area.
LOCAL MEMBER: Councillor Dafydd Meurig
Link to relevant background documents
Minutes:
Erection
of cheese factory / dairy together with a café and
ancillary visitor area.
(a) The Planning Manager elaborated on the background of the application and noted that the proposal was to erect a cheese factory / dairy including an ancillary café
and visitor area at the designated industrial estate of Bryn Cegin,
Bangor. The new
facility would include a two-storey building with a series of silos for the storage
of milk and water. The rest of the site would be divided into one area
for loading and business activity,
parking spaces for 135 vehicles and a landscaping area around the site's boundaries.
Reference was made to the rest of the details in the report.
In terms of the principle of the development, it was noted that the policies identified Bryn Cegin estate as an industrial site
to be protected, and this application for industrial use in use
class B2 was in accordance with what was encouraged by the policies. It was deemed that the principle of developing on this
site was acceptable, however, there were a number of additional policy considerations to be considered.
Although it was a large development, the new building would be of a size, design and
materials expected of a
modern industrial building on a substantially sized estate, and
therefore it was considered
to be in keeping with its location. Landscaping would assist to mitigate the visual impact of the development and it was deemed that it would not have a significant detrimental impact on the visual amenities
of neighbourhood.
Reference
was made to the late observations form that stated that
the Public Protection Unit confirmed their support subject to conditions, and therefore the proposal was considered to be acceptable in terms of the aspects of the policies that deal with
safeguarding the neighbourhood's
amenities.
Attention
was drawn to the fact that transportation, land drainage, archaeology and biodiversity matters were all acceptable.
In
terms of the economy and linguistic matters, it was noted that the assessment was positive and the proposal would create high value
opportunities.
It was noted
that there was no objection to a shop or café ancillary
to the main use and conditions may be imposed regarding this.
Having
assessed all the relevant planning considerations, the proposal was deemed to make appropriate use of a site designated
for such uses and it was recommended to approve the application in accordance with the additional conditions of the Public Protection Unit concerning ventilation / extraction system, noise levels and hours
of operation.
(b) Taking advantage of the opportunity to speak, the applicant noted:-
·
This was an enterprise by a group of young farmers and
he was one of the founders
·
The
enterprise specialised in the production and selling of cheese
·
That Bryn Cegin site was central to north Wales and would be a good starting place
for the venture
·
The
factory would use renewable technology
and the system would meet with the requirements
·
That approximately 20 jobs
would be created on the site.
·
The
site would be closer to the consumers
·
It
was trusted that farmers would receive
a better price for their milk
with the industry moving forward
(c)
The local member expressed his support for the development and noted:
·
That this huge site within
his ward had been empty for approximately ten years.
·
That the government had invested in the site's infrastructure
·
The
site was in an excellent location
for the A55
·
There was local support for a tenant to the site in order
to create employment
(ch) It was proposed and seconded to approve the application.
(d)
During the ensuing discussion, the following points were highlighted
by individual members:
·
It
was excellent to see enterprising young people and more enterprises such as Bryn Cegin were to be welcomed
·
The
applicants were congratulated for their entrepreneurship and best wishes
were given to the future of the enterprise.
·
Whilst supporting entrepreneurship, it was trusted that the development would not affect the success of another milk / cheese factory
in the north.
(dd) In response to the above, the Senior
Planning Manager noted that competition
was not a planning
matter.
Resolved: To approve the application with the following conditions:
Conditions
1. Five years
2. Work to be in
accordance with the plans
3. Materials / colour
4. Welsh
Water Condition
5. Implementation
to be in total accordance with the Protected Species Assessment
6. The shop
/ visitors' facility has to be ancillary to the industrial use and the retail floor area will
be limited to that shown on the submitted
plans.
7. Only
goods produced in the industrial unit will be sold in
the shop.
8. Agree
on a lighting plan
9. Landscaping
condition
10. Details
of ventilation / extraction,
noise levels, control of operation housrs.
Notes
Natural Resources
Wales
Welsh Water
Supporting documents: