Cumbria gets cheese factory

PLANS FOR a new £44m Cheddar cheese factory in West Cumbria have been approved.

Partners in Cheese, the consortium of Dutch dairy business specialists behind the scheme, has appointed project managers to build the new Lakeland Dairy Park at the Lillyhall Industrial Estate, Workington.

Construction is expected to begin in early summer.

Discussions with local dairy farmers to supply milk to the plant and take a financial stake in the project are said to be well advanced.

The factory will initially take in 250m litres, building to 400m litres within two years. Processing is likely to begin by April 2006.

“We have cleared a major hurdle,” said PiC managing director Ronald Akkerman. “We can now progress our discussions with potential customers and milk suppliers.”

A public meeting for interested dairy farmers will be held in early May.