Baby milk plant's expansion plan approved

Kendal Nutricare already has a base on Mint Bridge Road

A baby milk manufacturer has won permission for a new industrial building, despite planning officials recommending refusal.

Westmorland and Furness Council approved proposals from Kendal Nutricare for the 128ft (39m) high building.

The facility in the Lake District Business Park, off Mint Bridge Road, will house a spray dryer which is used in the manufacturing of infant formula.

The application was approved subject to a series of conditions.

These include biodiversity net gain, landscaping, external lighting, surface water issues, parking, contamination and construction management.

According to planning documents, the existing spray dryer is a "bottleneck" in the production process and the new facility would allow capacity to triple without any additional expansion.

The applicant stated this could lead to the creation of 50 jobs in three years.

'Crazy not to'

Planning officers previously recommended the application for refusal as it would cause "significant harm" to the landscape.

The report said: “The proposed building would be considerably taller than any of the surrounding buildings and would, therefore, be very prominent on the skyline of north Kendal."

Senior project manager at Kendal Nutricare Mark Gourlay told members of South Lakeland local area planning committee that the company understood concerns over the building size, but it was "essential" to secure the future of the Kendal plant.

Councillor Giles Archibald, cabinet member for climate and biodiversity told the committee it would be "crazy not to support" the business.

He added: “I think this is an enterprise that we should be supporting and not just in terms of the impact on the number of jobs, but the impact on the farming community and the impact on our supply of baby formula."