The future direction of major Herefordshire business S&A Produce will be decided this week as a result of crucial planning decisions.

S&A Produce has submitted planning applications for 67 hectares of polytunnels, worker accommodation for 1,000 seasonal staff and a sewage treatment works at its Brierley site. All three applications will be determined by Herefordshire District Council’s Main Planning Committee tomorrow.

This follows recent planning approval of 36.5 hectares of polytunnels at the company’s site in Marden last month, albeit without the migrant workers’ village that the company had hoped to build to house a maximum of 1,000 people.

S&A has embarked on a fundamental change to its soft-fruit production strategy by replacing all of its rotational ground-based crops with table-top production methods and in doing so will dramatically reduce the impact of its activities on the environment and local people. The success of this strategy is dependent upon planning consent for Brierley and failure to achieve this will severely constrain its activities in Herefordshire and considerably weaken its position with its key supermarket customers.

S&A makes a significant contribution to the local economy, spending about £7 million per annum. Given that S&A employs around 100 local full-time staff and has a large network of suppliers in the county, the compounded overall contribution to the local economy may be as much as £50m. The loss of this level of spending is likely to be very damaging to the county.

The planning applications, which were developed after extensive consultation with the local community, would enable S&A to move entirely to highly efficient table-top strawberry growing. The benefits of this system include a reduction in the total area of polytunnels across the county by 45 per cent; better positioning of polytunnels and enhanced landscaping measures to minimise visual impact; fewer seasonal workers by a factor of almost 50 per cent; better but smaller sites for seasonal worker accommodation; and improved facilities and minimised flood risk by creating a sophisticated water management system for the table top polytunnels

Rebecca Edmonds, PR and planning manager at S&A, said: “This is a critical time for S&A Produce. We have completely re-evaluated our business strategy and we want to maintain our levels of soft-fruit production within Herefordshire with the smallest area of polytunnels and the lowest numbers of seasonal workers. We have no intention to expand soft-fruit production in the county - our planning applications are all about consolidating, reducing visual impact and reducing the impact upon our local community. We have held lengthy public consultation exhibitions to ensure that our plans are understood and reflect local views. We hope that our hard work will be recognised by the planning committee.

“If the planning applications are refused, then S&A faces a very difficult future, and the impact of the loss of revenue county-wide could be devastating. At a time of recession, when major employers in Herefordshire are making mass redundancies, a successful business like S&A can play an important role, providing stability, jobs and helping to keep the economy afloat.”