Developing a sustainable future The next 10 years

Head Office and DistributionBuckshaw Avenue, Buckshaw Village, Chorley, Lancashire, PR7 7DW.Tel +44(0) 1257 633133 Fax +44(0) 1257 244780Email: customerservices@ga-petfoodpartners.co.uk

Production and ForwardingPlocks Farm, Liverpool Road, Bretherton, Leyland, Lancashire, PR26 9AX.Tel +44(0) 1772 601606 Fax +44 (0) 1772 601607

GA Pet Food Partners are based on the outskirts of Bretherton on the main A59 Liverpool/Preston road, allowing easy access from all parts of the country, Europe and the rest of the world via major road, rail and airport services.

From the south via M6Exit at junction 27, turn left on to A5209. Turn right on to B5246 signposted to Rufford. Turn right on to A59 towards Preston. At the traffic lights, turn right towards Preston, proceed over the bridge.

The entrance to Plocks Farm is approximately 700 metres on the left hand side, before the Bretherton/Croston roundabout.

Your Views

How to find us

GA Pet Food Partners seeks the views of the local community, local elected representatives, employees, customers and suppliers.

Your comments are kindly requested before the proposals are finalised and lodged with Chorley Council as a planning application for its consideration.

From the north via M6Exit at junction 32, follow A6 into Preston Town Centre then pick up A59 signposted for Liverpool/Southport. Continue along A59 for approximately seven miles until you reach a roundabout signposted Bretherton/Croston.

Continue directly over the roundabout on the A59. The entrance to Plocks Farm is approximately 400 metres on the right-hand side.

By air and railManchester International Airport, with its worldwide services, is only one hour away. The nearest main line station is at Preston.

The history of GA Pet Food Partners

Back in the early 1990s our family firm realised that we could not just continue to grow cereals on our farm in Bretherton and Tarleton without securing an effective market. Something had to be done if we were to continue to retain the five employees.

So, in 1992 we began processing wheat to manufacture a dried pet food. Our business has been a tremendous success. As GA Pet Food Partners (formerly Golden Acres) we now manufacture 500 different types of extruded pet food. These cater for a range of pets including dogs, cats, fish and small animals. Which we sell to over 1,200 customers across the world.

Our business now employs more than 400 people from the local area (please see the map to the right) and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What do we do?We are Europe’s leading manufacturer of private label premium dry pet food.

At Plocks Farm we manufacture and package the products, which are then transferred to our warehouse and distribution facility in Buckshaw Village near Chorley.

We only provide products for sale in the name of our customer.

We seek to secure the best raw materials of known provenance so that our customers know the origins of what they are feeding to their companion animals.

We prepare and cook using these ingredients in a clinically clean

environment, using technically advanced cooking processes to capture those specialist enhanced aromatic flavours that ensure GA products are highly palatable.

We take these premium pet food products and pack them into dedicated packaging, so that our customers can concentrate on selling, with us providing a high quality service to meet their needs.

We then store and dispatch the packaged goods, direct to our customer’s customer. In this internet age, next day delivery or even the same day, is a requirement if we are to meet our customer’s expectations.

Our Master PlansOur business involves the development of new products and services to ensure we maintain our market position, stay ahead of environmental legislation, and promote a sustainable operation. Essential to this process are the buildings and infrastructure in which we operate, and we have set out proposals for these in a series of Master Plans.

Plocks Farm

The first was produced in 2003, the second in 2009; it is now time for the third review and a revised Master Plan, looking forward to the next 10 years to 2025.

GA Pet Food Partners proposed development Key achievements:

2010-2015 Master PlanEmployees: Increased from 250 to 400.

Odour Complaints: Reduced from an average of 110 per annum (for the three years prior to January 2012) to just two per annum for the years ending 2013 and 2014.

Occupation of the strategic distribution centre in the regional investment area of Buckshaw Village, Chorley, has reduced traffic movements through Bretherton and Chorley Borough, due to:

a) Rationalisation of the number of times materials are handled.

b) Proximity of M61 and M6 motorways for customer collections.

Development of fresh meat rather than rendered meat meals to manufacture dry extruded pet food products – a “world first”.

Odours are now reduced to 20% of the approved limit. This demonstrates how well our odour abatement system is performing. As a consequence, the 30 metre high chimney which was granted planning permission in 2010 is no longer required.

We have reduced noise by 30% from 45dBA to 40dBA at the boundary of the site near Mill Brow Cottages between 11.00pm and 7.00am.

We have increased the site’s biodiversity.

We now collect all rainwater from yards and roofs which is reused in the manufacturing complex.

Review of current operations

We require complete ‘traceability’ throughout the production process, so that the pet owner can have direct knowledge via the internet, as to where the ingredients have been sourced, when they were made and by whom. We believe that this provides customers with the provenance they demand about the raw materials used in the manufacture of dried pet food, together with the transparency to build trust and confidence in our customers’ branded products.

The exacting standards of Good Manufacturing Practice for high quality food (whether for humans or animals) demands that the risk of bacterial transfer from the raw materials to the finished product are eliminated. The risk of bacterial infection, primarily salmonella, can spread through the atmosphere in the air, be transferred by production staff, or by physical transfer on vehicles or machinery. It is therefore essential that

we isolate all raw materials from the finished product to prevent the risk of cross contamination.

To ensure that all the products are manufactured free from bacterial infection, they must be tested and then released for sale, a process that can take up to two days to perform.

We need to be able to package the finished products into the required bags “just in time” ready for dispatch, so that we do not package unnecessary stock awaiting customer orders.

To continue to minimise our impact on the environment, we believe that we can generate our own electricity from both natural gas and digested waste and then recover all the generated heat from a Combined Heat and Power Plant, reducing our carbon emissions by 4,000 tonnes per annum.

Plocks Farm – Section elevation – A1 - A1 [see plan]

A1A1

What will it look like?The computer generated images (based on photographs) illustrate the completed proposal. The design of the buildings seeks to maintain the scale at the existing complex where possible.

As explained above, the success of the approved Odour Management System, means that what would have been the most visible part of the complex, the 30m high chimney, is no longer required. Its visual impact would not have just been the structure itself but the plume of steam it would have emitted.

The Ingredients Kitchen, the Meat Kitchen and the proposed Larder are to be sited on the lower lying land to the North of the existing buildings and constructed of olive

green cladding in order to improve the appearance and provide an appropriate setting within the valley landscape.

The previous planting undertaken prior to 2003 continues to grow and will minimise the visual impact of the proposed buildings. In addition, further planned planting on land to the south of the complex will assist in enhancing the setting of Plocks Farm, particularly from Bank Bridge.

The objective is to integrate the proposed development, within the long established complex, so that the visual impact is minimised, and does not change the overall appearance of the area.

The way forward

In order to develop a sustainable future that builds on the success of the last 23 years, the company seeks support to update the Master Plan. This looks ahead for the next 10 years, to 2025 and will form the basis of a new planning application to be made to Chorley Council.

The main elements would be for:

The construction of an Ingredients Kitchen, on the site of the previously approved Automated Finished Product Store to allow for the blending and grinding of raw materials into a fine powder ready for cooking.

To build a Larder comprising of 14,500 boxes containing 550 kilos of dry extruded pet food to store the 500 different pet food products, where they can be tested prior to placing the products in a bag for the customer. This would comprise a 6,503sq.m. (70,000sq.ft.) extension to the approved warehouse at the north end of the complex.

The construction of a Meat Kitchen on the west (river) side of the complex in order to prepare fresh meat by pasteurising and dewatering ready to be cooked within the extruder. This technically advanced process would enable the meat flavours to be extracted and then reused on the product to improve the palatability for pets. This element would comprise 5,600 sq.m. (60,280 sq ft) of floor space.

The erection of a fridge in the form of an extension to the Ingredients Kitchen referred to above. This would sit on the west side of the complex and have an area of 2,072 sq.m. (22,303 sq ft).

The installation of an Anaerobic Digestion Process, to the north of the complex, to allow for the recovery of methane gas from the liquid waste arising on site, which is currently spread onto agricultural land.

The installation of a Combined Heat and Power Plant, to be able to utilise the methane gas produced together with natural gas to generate on-site electricity and utilise the 90°C hot water produced within the process.

A repair to the embankment of the River Douglas, which has settled since its construction 40 years ago to prevent future flooding in the event of high tides.

The relocation of the approved office and a secure private car park to the north of the existing access road.

Existing

Proposed

What are the benefits?The business needs to continue to develop innovative products to satisfy the needs of its customers. This requires the use of known sourced raw materials, from the plough to the plate, that can be tracked through the process and are safe. Our proposed facility will allow this, whereas the existing complex and previous Master Plan does not.

The business must continue to minimise its impact on the environment, not just in order to respect the local area and community but to meet its regulatory requirements. By generating its own electricity on site from natural gas, as well as recovering energy in the form of methane, from liquid waste, it will ensure that it maximises the use of resources, increasing the efficiency from natural

gas from some 36% to nearly 80%, as the business will be able to use and recover all the surplus heat from the gas driven engines.

This updated long term plan allows all stakeholders to know what to expect and how the site is to be developed. It allows employees to be fully aware of the company’s strategic plans and how the business intends to grow. It allows customers to have a full knowledge of the intended innovative products that may be developed in the future, so that they can develop their marketing strategies. It further allows local residents to know what is proposed, that the previous concerns about odours have been met and as to what the site will look like.