United Caps, an international manufacturer of caps and closures, has received approval from the planning board at Rotherham Council for its multimillion pound new facility that will manufacture beverage and dairy closures - overcoming issues with its impact on neighbouring Bluebell Wood Hospice.
Rothbiz reported last year that the Luxembourg-based multinational had selected a site at Dinnington for its first UK location and the plans are for phased development on a 4.1 hectare site on the former Dinnington Colliery site.
United Caps has purchased the land from developer St Paul's Developments who produced the masterplan for the wider area, and have also sold adjacent plots of land to other developers for industrial development.
The initial facility will be 54,000 sq ft, with an option to expand to 215,000 sq ft as business growth demands. Four phases of between 50,000 sq ft to 60,000 are proposed. Each phase will add an additional bay incorporating further factory and warehouse accommodation. The offices, complete with a green living wall, will be constructed fully as part of the first phase.
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During the course of the application the layout of the site and building has been redesigned to have regard to the presence of Bluebell Wood Hospice in an attempt to reduce the impact of the proposal. The loading bays and 24 silos, that hold the plastic and are filled twice a day, have been moved from the front to the rear, screened from the hospice by the building itself.
Rob Morrell, principal planner at Rotherham Council explained to the planning board that: "Overall, the principal of the development is acceptable - it's industrial and business use allocation so it meets the policy requirements. The building is industrial in appearance but it has got to be functional for the proposed use.
"There has been negotiation to reduce the height of the building and move the office to the side nearest the hospice. Consideration has been given to the neighbouring use, both in terms of the visual appearance of the building and the noise that could possibly be generated, to ensure that there is no adverse impact."
The facility would be in 24 hour use but HGV movements (up to 40 a day) are to be limited to between 8am and 5pm on weekdays. Traffic assessments have been carried out and it was detailed that the manufacturing process would not create noxious fumes. Conditions around noise are also included.
The hospice, a local ward member and Dinnington St John's Town Council objected to the plans, which would create up to 120 jobs.
Nigel Hancock, assistant planning manager at Rotherham Council, added: "The hospice is a sensitive receptor. What I think that this company has done is shown that it can act as a good neighbour. It recognises that there is that sensitive use next door. It has put in significant mitigation measures to overcome those noise issues and is happy to accept very restrictive conditions that might actually preclude another user going on to that portion of the site.
"The balance is just about right for us."
The board subsequently voted to approve the plans.
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Formerly known as Procap, the company is a European leader in the development, production and sale of plastic caps and closures. It employs around 529 staff and had a turnover of €137m at the end of 2017. 2018 saw the company produce ten billion closures in a year for the first time.
A preferred partner to the world's leading companies, United Caps produces custom designed speciality closures for the likes of Arla, Danone, Unilever, L'Oréal and Pfizer.
1 comments:
Are these plastic caps Bio degradeable. Will they be a danger to wild life?
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