A state-of-the-art creamery for Campbeltown took a step forward today (30 Sept) when Argyll & Bute Council approved a planning proposal for a new Tesco store.

The Tesco store will be built on the site of the existing creamery, enabling First Milk, the owners of Campbeltown Creamery, to relocate to purpose-built premises on the outskirts of the town. 

First Milk was granted planning permission for the new creamery at Snipefield in the summer but a move could not take place without Tesco also being granted approval to build a new store on the site of the existing creamery.

In July 2009, First Milk revealed plans to secure the future of 40 dairy farms and 100 jobs in Kintyre with a proposal to build a modern creamery on a new site.  The proposed creamery would be funded from three sources: up to £3.9 million from the Scottish Government; the sale of the existing creamery site to Tesco and funds from First Milk.

Paul Flanagan, First Milk’s Group Communications Director, said:

“This news today is a huge step towards our objective of building a new state-of-the-art creamery in Campbeltown. Tesco and ourselves can now focus on progressing the remaining details relating to the sale of the existing creamery site.

“We remain on track to exchange contracts with Tesco and start work on the new creamery site early in the New Year.”

Doug Wilson, Corporate Affairs Manager for Tesco, said:

“It is greatly encouraging that council members have backed Tesco’s plans today.  We wholeheartedly share the community’s enthusiasm to see new employment opportunities created for the area and this is a step forward in the preservation of our long standing supplier, First Milk, in Campbeltown.”

“Our existing store in Campbeltown has come under increased pressure over the years, and relocation to Witchburn Rd will enable us to provide the supermarket offering that local residents deserve.”

The current creamery was built in the 1820s as a whisky distillery before being converted to a cheese-manufacturing facility. With no other viable processing outlet for these farms, future prospects for the dairy industry in the area were bleak without a replacement creamery.