Hemp Plant Up For Approval

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Plans to establish the UK's largest hemp processing plant in Norfolk are tipped for approval.

Proposals for the £3.5m production plant at Camp Farm at Roudham, near Thetford, will be decided by Breckland Council on Monday April 16.

Planners are recommending the plant is given the go-ahead saying that concerns about increased heavy traffic have been addressed by the developer's promise to widen the main access route along Roudham Road.

The plant, which would be run by Hemcore Ltd, would rely on a network of farmers across Norfolk and Suffolk to provide it with the 7,000 acres of hemp it will process each year.

The material will be turned into interior car panels, housing insulation and building materials, horse bedding and fuel.

The business would employ 14 people and would operate on a 24-hour basis for an initial period of 240 days a year.

Principal planning officer Nick Moys estimates that the hemp factory and the other storage buildings on the farm would be served by a maximum of 83-lorries-a-day.

A transport assessment to support the plans said that by maintaining the verge of Roudham Road it could be widened to six metres along its length.

The plans have provoked fierce objections in Roudham and Bridgham with 140 people writing to oppose the plans, citing increased traffic and disruption to the rural area.

The plans will be discussed by Breckland Council at a meeting at 9.30am at its council offices in Dereham.



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Source: EDP24
Author: NICK HEATH
Contact: nick.heath@archant.co.uk
Copyright: 2007 Archant Regional
Website: http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/...A44%3A11%3A833