Go-ahead for Weston's cider plant expansion

One of Herefordshire’s largest rural employers has been given the go-ahead to expand.

Weston’s Cider applied two years ago for planning permission for two buildings together covering half a hectare, and access to them, as well as 24 silos each capable of storing 200,000 litres, at its Much Marcle site between Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye.

Lying to the north of the current buildings, the green metal-clad warehouses, 16 metres tall at the eaves, were to store palletised bottles of cider produced at the site before distribution.

A continuing rise in cider production and sales has led to a shortage of warehouse space, the firm’s application said, forcing it to take on additional storage space 25 miles away which entailed many extra lorry journeys.

But a landscape and visual appraisal accompanying the proposal acknowledged it “would be likely to have a major adverse effect on the character of the local landscape”.

Addressing this, Herefordshire Council’s senior landscape officer Mandy Neill said landscaping measures “should be fully addressed in detail before a decision is made”, adding that painting the silos matt green “should reduce the visual impact to some extent of these tall and visually intrusive structures”.

Much Marcle parish council did not object but asked for tree planting to screen the east side of the new development.

Planning officer Josh Bailey concluded that the extra storage facilities “would increase the efficiency and allow for the continued growth of the business”, which was an aim of local and national planning policy.

“A robust landscaping scheme would help mitigate the impact of the buildings and ensure the scheme assimilates to the setting, though this is very much a fine balance,” he wrote.

Conditions covering soft and hard landscaping, paint colour and external lighting are among 22 with the award of planning permission. The use of the buildings is also restricted to storage and distribution only.

The site is already home to a restaurant, tea room, visitor centre, heritage centre and shop. The company employs over 200 mostly local workers, according to its website.