A FAMILY-RUN firm that supplies potatoes to Five Guys restaurants looks set for a new factory – keeping 25 jobs near Wilmslow and creating 15 more.

Ahead of a northern planning committee meeting next Wednesday, Cheshire East Council officers are calling on councillors to approve E Park and Sons’ (EPS) plans to demolish its potato processing factory and build a replacement at the firm’s Bentworth headquarters in Lees Lane, Newton.

The company, which was established in 1924, says the current 1950s-built processing plant is not suitable for modern potato washing facilities which meet today’s environmental standards.

It has a second facility in Epworth, near Doncaster, where spuds can be washed – and if Cheshire East Council refuses planning permission for the new factory next Wednesday, EPS says that jobs could be moved from Bentworth to the more modern site 66 miles away.

In a statement submitted to CEC on behalf of EPS, planning agent Simon Plowman said: “Increasingly, clients require modern technologies for potatoes to be washed and packaged in a modern facility.

“EPS proposes to install state-of-the-art potato washing with equipment that recycles the mud from potatoes into mud bricks that can be used in farming. Also, the water is 100 per cent recycled for use back in the plant or for discharge in an environmentally safe manner.

“The factory at Bentworth is too small to accommodate the revised facility. The existing factory building needs to be demolished and rebuilt to accommodate state-of-the-art processing.

“If the new build does not go ahead the operation at Bentworth will probably have to be halted and all operations and jobs directed to Epworth.”

As well as the retention of staff, EPS says that the development will allow for the creation of ’15 new quality jobs’ – including engineers, mechanics and quality controllers.

Most staff are currently from the local area, and EPS expects any new staff to be recruited from close-by.

As well as burger chain Five Guys, EPS has a range of clients including supermarkets, hotels and restaurants, while the firm is the sole licensee for National Trust potatoes and vegetables.

The company works with 59 potato growers from across the north and the midlands – including 23 from Cheshire.

Mr Plowman added: “There could be detrimental impacts upon local growers if EPS were to close the processing side at this site – local growers will find their operation harder and probably with much less margin.”

Although the site is in the green belt, no objections have been sent to CEC against the proposal, and EPS has received the support of Mottram St Andrew Parish Council for its plans.

In a letter sent to EPS on behalf of councillors, parish clerk Ron Taylor said: “The parish council feels it is essential, in the rural community particularly, to support local businesses to preserve employment and in this case attract further jobs locally.”

Ahead of next week’s meeting, CEC officers say the development would ‘make effective use of a previously developed site’, boost the rural economy and improve the company’s energy efficiency.

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As a result, officers insist the benefits of the proposal ‘clearly outweighs the harm’ of building in the green belt.

Should councillors approve the plans next week, the application is expected to be referred to James Brokenshire, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to consider whether the Government wants to make the final decision.