Thornhill Agri Ltd. has received the green light to establish a malt processing plant in Newstown, Ardattin, Tullow, 100km south-west of Ireland's capital Dublin as reported by Agriland.ie on September 15th.
The facility is designed to produce about 20,000 tons of brewing and distilling malt and will encompass two grain storage facilities, modular malt production units; a storage shed housing two water filtration systems with four stainless steel cylindrical water storage tanks. Moreover, the project will encompass the construction of three silos with concrete aprons and associated site improvements. Importantly, the plant will be designed as a non-permanent structure, capable of being dismantled in the future.
According to the company, the new facility will be the “world first ‘zero-emission’ malting plant” and is “opening a premium market for local tillage farmers” to supply the new facility with up to 25,000t of barley grown within a 15km radius of the new plant which helps to reduce transport emissions.
Thornhill Malt Company's primary goal for this endeavor is to cater to the fast-growing brewing and distilling industry. This expansion is expected to generate employment opportunities, including four full-time positions and two part-time positions.
The County Council's approval comes with 17 planning conditions. These conditions mandate that the malting company must register water abstraction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Additionally, all external roof and wall finishes must adhere to a dark grey color scheme to match existing on-site structures. Furthermore, the company is obliged to comply with the mitigation measures outlined in the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) submitted with the planning application. The council also emphasizes the use of "best practicable means" to prevent or minimize noise and dust emissions during the construction phase of the new plant.
