Plans submitted for £1m apple store at fruit farm

EC Drummond hopes to build the new facility at Tillington Fruit Farm, near Burghill

A farm in Herefordshire is set to receive £1m funding to build fruit stores.

EC Drummond has already invested £1.5m in new apple orchards and infrastructure at its Tillington fruit farm, near Burghill, northwest of Hereford.

The firm, which is based near Ross-on-Wye, is now seeking planning permission to build a new store for the fruit, instead of its present method of using third-party storage.

If approved, the building would measure 70 by 26 metres, giving an area of over seven tennis courts, with a height of nine metres, plans show.

According to the application, it would have refrigeration and atmospheric controls to keep the apples fresh through to the following summer.

The firm also wants to add roof-mounted solar panels and two rainwater harvesting tanks.

"Bringing storage on-site will also save on costs and on traffic through the village at harvest," company chairman Eric Drummond said.

The fruit will still have to be taken elsewhere for sorting and packing.

Mr Drummond said: "[The investment] will secure employment and continue the production of dessert apples in Herefordshire which has been diminishing recently."

The proposal includes 640 metres of new native hedgerows around the boundaries, new trees and a wildflower area.

The fruit farm was previously owned by the Co-op but was acquired by EC Drummond when the retailer sold off its farms estate a decade ago and is managed under its Tillington Top Fruit Ltd arm.

Comments on the planning application can be made until 30 May.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.