Bad news. It looks like the proposed brewery site is not going to work out.
Along with a number of technical challenges (no mains water, lack of 3 phase power) it looks like bureaucracy might win out with the key sticking point being that the area has some special environmental rules due to it’s use as a water catchment zone.
So, the hunt is on for a new site with the best option so far being a new development down south that’s current in the planning stages. The site has some definite advantages over the old one:
- Will be a retail outlet (bar/cellar door & restaurant) where the old site would have been brewery only
- Located in a populated/growing area
- Mains water/3 phase power will be available
- New development so it can be fit out to the specs required for a brewery and council approval should be simpler
- Being built/developed by family so leasing options etc. should be easy enough
It’s definitely got potential, but the downside is it’s around 3 years away from being completed.
Still, time has the advantage of allowing my partner and I to better organise ourselves. I guess for now though it’s back to the home brewery…