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Green light for Fane Valley to invest £4.5 million in state-of-the-art storage facility, creating 25 jobs

Claire Cartmill
·2-min read
The agricultural and food processing business, Fane Valley plans to invest £4.5 million in a 5,500 square metre state-of-the-art office and industrial unit on the village’s Glenavy Road close to Soldierstown (Photo: u)
The agricultural and food processing business, Fane Valley plans to invest £4.5 million in a 5,500 square metre state-of-the-art office and industrial unit on the village’s Glenavy Road close to Soldierstown (Photo: u)

Northern Ireland agricultural and food processing business, Fane Valley has secured major planning permission for a £4.5 million industrial facility, which is expected to create 25 new jobs.

The agri-food co-operative headquartered in Moria has been granted permission to build a major new 5,500 square metre state-of-the-art office and industrial unit on the village’s Glenavy Road close to Soldierstown.

Fane Valley originally secured planning permission in 2017 to develop 20 units to establish the Glenavy Road Business Park.

The agri-food co-operative, headquartered in Moria, has been granted permission to build a major new 5,500 square metre state-of-the-art office and industrial unit on the village’s Glenavy Road close to Soldierstown. Pictured are the plans supplied by Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council
The agri-food co-operative, headquartered in Moria, has been granted permission to build a major new 5,500 square metre state-of-the-art office and industrial unit on the village’s Glenavy Road close to Soldierstown. Pictured are the plans supplied by Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council

Part of those plans have now been redrafted for a much larger single building, which the firm plans to use as a storage and distribution hub for the Fane Valley Group’s online sales of agriculture supplies.

It will also be used to supply Fane Valley’s network of 17 stores throughout Northern Ireland.

The planning application was submitted by Belfast-based planning consultancy Clyde Shanks and is expected to create at least 25 full-time jobs.

A recommendation to approve the plans was backed by Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s planning committee on Monday morning.

The same committee also approved plans for a separate unrelated industrial development on Comber Road, Dundonald, which is also expected to attract further investment to the local area, according to councillors.

The new units, which have been identified for office and light industrial use, are set to offer both new and growing businesses modern manufacturing space. Parking for cars and bicycles as well as landscaping forms part of the overall scheme.

Praising the investment boosts, alderman Martin Gregg, chair of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s Planning Committee, said: “This is really positive news for Lisburn and Castlereagh and in particular, the villages of Dundonald and Moira.

“Both these projects will bring immediate employment and economic benefits to both areas and will help to continue to grow the council’s business prospects. By investing and developing new infrastructure we can help create more and better jobs for the people who live in Lisburn and Castlereagh.”