CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a large storage facility on farmland near Colchester are set to get the go-ahead despite fears it would blight the "character, appearance and integrity" of the countryside.
Surya Foods is looking to build a new storage and distribution centre on agricultural land off Old Ipswich Road, Ardleigh.
If approved, the development will have the capacity to handle “nine lorries unloading or loading at any one time” and benefit from a goods yard with more than 200 parking spaces.
The company says the scheme will create 600 jobs and is predicted to generate almost £160 million "for the local economy over the next decade".
The warehouse and distribution centre will be built, owned, and operated by Surya Foods.
Tendring councillors will consider a report at a planning committee next week, with the scheme recommended for approval.
Planning agent Ben Norton said: “We’ve worked hard over the last two years to maximise the benefits of the proposal to the local economy which will result in almost 600 new jobs in the area.
"The proposals will not just secure new jobs in Ardleigh, but will also allow for an expansion of the applicants existing food production business in Harwich, creating new jobs at that site as well.”
The proposals include 175,000sq ft warehouse space, as well as parking for lorries, office facilities for the company, and landscaping including a lake and the planting of hundreds of trees.
The company says it will achieve "a net gain" in biodiversity and has agreed to pay towards highways improvements on the A120/A12 junction, as well as immediately outside the site.
But Ardleigh Parish Council has objected to the plans, saying they could result in permanent loss of “versatile agricultural land for which no compelling justification has been provided”.
The objection letter read: “The applicant has failed - by a considerable margin - to justify their claim that there are no other suitable sites available anywhere in the district or wider region.
“The development would cause substantial and permanent harm to the character, appearance and integrity of the affected rural landscape.”
The report to go before Tendring Council's planning committee on September 14 said the benefits of the scheme "very marginally outweigh" the harm.
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