Honey business set for sweet expansion
Plans for a factory extension have been given the thumbs up by planners which will allow a business to produce more of its sweet products.
Earlier this year Scott Davies, the managing director of Hilltop Ltd, the company that produces Hilltop Honey, lodged plans with Powys County Council to extend Unit A of the firm's factory at Heol Vastre on the Vastre Industrial Estate in Newtown.
The extension would allow the honey to be warmed up so that it can then be processed in the factory and help the firm deal with the “rapid growth of demand” for its products.
The first extension would be 97 square metres and a second phase would add an extra 381 square metres – which would give a combined 12 per cent increase of space at the factory.
Solar panels would also be placed on the extension’s roof.
Planning agent Fred Carter said: “This will create more economical movement patterns and improve productivity.
“The additional extension will allow for increased production locally rather than locating to larger premises, reducing carbon output from transporting to another site.”
Planning officer Luke Jones said: “The proposed development is a minor extension to an existing industrial unit on Vastre Industrial Estate.
“The proposed extension is considered to be of a suitable size and scale and has been designed to reflect the existing building onsite by way of materials.
“The proposed development is a minor extension to an existing industrial unit on Vastre Industrial Estate.
“The extension will be sited on an existing yard area which is considered to be low ecological value.
“Officers therefore consider the proposed works would not detrimentally impact protected species through development and the decision is one of conditional consent.”
Conditions the applicant would need to adhere to as part of the planning permission included having at least one parking space to have an electric vehicle charging point and four bird boxes to be installed at the site.
Mr Davies founded Hilltop when he started bee-keeping as a hobby in 2011.
He shared the honey with friends and family and soon afterwards local shops.
Hilltop now supplies product to national supermarket chains, having become one of the fastest growing companies in Wales.
The firm moved into the factory in 2022 after outgrowing its former base at Dyffryn on Pool Road.
