Arla Foods submits planning application for proposed fresh milk dairy

Arla Foods has submitted a detailed planning application to Aylesbury Vale District Council for a £150 million investment to deliver the world’s first zero carbon fresh milk dairy, near to Aston Clinton, Aylesbury.

The location has been selected due to its optimum position between supplying farmers and the growing population in the South East, which the dairy would service.

It also offers direct access onto the A41 Bypass and strategic road network as well as providing an opportunity for suppliers to locate at the site, reducing overall road miles. The dairy would create almost 700 skilled jobs and Aylesbury can provide access to the strong local workforce required.
This unique scheme would bring a windfall investment into the local economy, deliver a £20 million annual wages bill and provide education, training and apprenticeship opportunities.
In addition to the detailed dairy application, outline planning applications have beensubmitted for additional commercial space to the north and south of the site which would be used as a catalyst to attract further inward investment to the area.Arla Foods has been in consultation with the parish and town councils, residents and groups from the area since December 2010 and has identified solutions to mitigate the effects of the dairy on the community.
The key changes to the master plan, following the consultation feedback, include:

• Reducing the scale of the additional commercial space by 50,000 sq ft
• Removing the biomass proposal
• Changing the colour of the buildings to autumnal colours
• Delivering 34 acres of new woodland and planting to provide a screening buffer around the site, on top of a landscaped bund. The width of the landscaping would be extensive – between 20-80 metres wide and now includes evergreen species as wellas an array of native species, including the rare Black Poplar which is indigenous to the area
• Ensuring there is no access to or from Buckland Road
• Changing the transport strategy to avoid routing any Arla vehicles on the A413 or town centre roads
• Ensuring more vehicles use the A41 Bypass to London, which has a two way daily capacity of approximately 75,000 vehicles and currently has a two way flow of around 23,000 vehicles.

Tim Evans, senior director UK projects and engineering at Arla Foods, says: "We have spent many months listening to people’s views and ideas and have sought to take on board their comments and feedback and incorporate mitigation measures in our final plans.

"This unique proposal would deliver quality employment and training opportunities as well as boosting the local construction market. We believe the £150 million investment to deliver the dairy and the £20 million annual wages bill would have a positive impact on the local economy."

The dairy would be one of the most environmentally advanced in the world and would process milk from British farms. Arla Foods is seeking to deliver a zero carbon facility with zero waste to landfill. The company would use advanced construction techniques, process technologies and renewable energy solutions.

Should Arla receive planning permission later this year, the company is in a position for the dairy to be operational by the end of 2012.

More information about the proposals and a downloadable brochure is available atwww.arlafoods.co.uk/aylesbury or call 0113 382 7000.