Shropshire's world-famous David Austin Roses lodges expansion plan
Production facilities are set to be improved at a world-famous Shropshire horticulture firm after plans were lodged with Shropshire Council.
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Albrighton-based David Austin Roses wants to create a new home for its potting operation at its Bowling Green Lane site, and has applied for planning permission to build a new steel framed building in its main production facility.
If approved, the 736 square metre building would sit adjacent to others on the site in Albrighton.
In supporting documents submitted with the application, the firm says it would improve efficiency in its production operations and reduce hazards from forklifts traversing the site.
“David Austin Roses Ltd is a breeder and producer of both ornamental rose plants and cut roses, and is a major national and international company, with sales in most parts of the world,” it says.
“The site on Bowling Green Lane comprises three main areas: the breeding and trials, the visitor facilities and display gardens, and the main production and processing facilities.
“This building proposed within this application will sit within the building complex main production area, immediately adjoining another horticultural building granted planning permission in January 2021.
“The proposed building is required principally to house the current potting operation. This is currently carried on elsewhere but it is impacted by the movement of forklift trucks which create a health and safety hazard for the workforce.
“A dedicated building for the potting operation will remove this hazard and make significant improvements to the efficiency of the operation."
In January 2021 the firm was granted permission for a building of similar design for storage, packing and despatch of online orders to support an expansion in its mail order sales.
The company has been growing in Albrighton since its founding in 1969 and has been awarded 28 gold medals by the Royal Horticultural Society at the Chelsea Flower Show. The rose garden at the firm’s site in Albrighton is one of only three gardens in England to have received the ‘Award of Garden Excellence’ from the World Federation of Rose Societies.
The plans will be decided by Shropshire Council in due course.
