Up to 20 new jobs will be created if plans to extend a north Cumbrian sawmill get the go-ahead.
People had a chance to see the proposals for the expansion of BSW Timber in Cargo, near Carlisle at a drop-in session.
The firm wants to extend on to a neighbouring plot of land to enable it to move more goods by rail.
A drop-in session was organised at Rockcliffe Community Centre yesterday, January 10, for people to view the proposals and ask questions.
If the plans get planning permission the project could create around 20 new jobs, in addition to the 160 employees at the existing site, as well as a commercial warehousing development and a new railway head at the site.
It is hoped that the move would take the movement of timber off the road network and onto the rail system – shipments to the south of Carlisle could weigh up to 2,000 tonnes, the equivalent of 55 road wagons, and those to the north could weigh up to 1,050 tonnes, the equivalent of 30 wagon loads.
As well as the logs, shipments would include by-products of the forestry industry including: planks, sawdust, chippings and bark.
Currently there are 47 trucks visiting the site daily, creating 93 movements.
Stuart Fraser, the group project engineer, said they had received positive feedback from planning officers at Cumberland Council.
He added: “The main thing they were asking about was how traffic would impact on the Cargo Road.”
Mr Fraser said they were currently carrying out a traffic assessment, they were hoping to submit an application for outline planning permission next month, with a predicted start for the project in 2025.
Trevor Allison, who visited the centre as a representative of Kingmoor Parish Council, said had viewed the plans and the initial responses from the council.
He said: “Overall I am supportive of the scheme. It is a significant employer and I will be responding to the application. I am hoping that the parish council will be equally supportive.”
The business was established in 1848 and is one of the largest sawmilling companies in the UK.
The family-owned business was purchased by Binderholz in 2021 and has four main operating divisions: forestry, sawmilling, timber manufacturing and energy.
It has occupied and operated from the Cargo site for more than 30 years and during this time the manufacturing processes, and the site development, has evolved.
The existing BSW site covers approximately 15 hectares of land and is an irregular shape bound to the east and north by railway track, sidings and storage areas. To the west and south the site is bound by the C1016 and agricultural land.
The proposed site is immediately south of the existing sawmill operations and BSW wishes to expand its current sawmill operations into the adjoining fields to the south east of the existing sawmill operations at Cargo to create the new railhead and an extension to the existing sawmill operation.
The outline planning application will be for the development of:
- A new railhead
- Up to 10,200 square metres of warehouse and auxiliary office space
- Up to 10,000 square metres of open storage area
- Up to 2,200 square metres of office and supporting infrastructure space
- Internal roads and infrastructure
The site operates a 75-hour week and annual input is 330,000 cubic metres of roundwood and it produces 178,000 cubic metres of sawn timber.
