UK county to become nation's one-stop shop for tomatoes with mega 100-acre greenhouse

Plans have been put forward for a vast complex with multiple greenhouses in Essex that could become a major hub for tomato production and strengthen Britain's food security. Essex County Council have been asked to consider a proposed new glasshouse complex near Braintree, in north Essex, that will cover 40,000 hectares, and which the developers believe will be able to produce 28,194 tonnes of tomatoes annually, reports.

Rivenhall Greenhouse, which is leading the project, believe this would offset 7.1% of UK tomato imports from Southern Spain, Morocco and Holland. The developers are hoping to build the site in a former quarry on reclaimed land next to a waste production plant currently under construction, which it believes could provide the heat, CO2 and elecricity it requires.

The site was reportedly picked due to both its proximity to the incinerator facility, and the 1,611 hours of sunshine per year that Braintree enjoys, as per .

The developers say waste heat and CO2 from the site, which they believe could be operational before 2027, can also be utilised by its low-carbon greenhouses.

According to Rivenall, the site would bring 20 full-time and 80 part time jobs, as well as pumping around £300 million into the Braintree economy from full-time salaries in the first two decades of its operation.

Meanwhile, the construction phase would be estimated to inject circa £4.14 million into the local hospitality sector, and adding around £600,000 into local agriculture supply businesses annually, the firm says on its .

The project also aims to convert the existing Wallace Hanger into a "hi-tech vertical farm" able to produce produce 375 tonnes of leafy greens per year.

However, James Abbott, the Green Party councillor for Silver End and Cressing, Braintree district council, voiced concerns about the size of the site, telling : "We're not opposed to it in principle, it's the sheer scale of it: it's so vast. You have to see it in the context of this [being] a rural area and yet we are being inundated with development.

"Incinerator, pylons coming through, vast amounts of new houses - we're not opposed to new housing, it's the scale. We've got quarries, solar farms - we're not opposed to them - road-building proposals. You name it, we've got it. It's the scale, the cumulative impact of changing this rural area so much." He suggested planners should look to build a smaller project, as per the outlet.

But project director Ed Moorhouse told Farmers Weekly that if approved, the development "set a new benchmark for UK horticulture, reinforcing UK food security in an increasingly uncertain world", anticipating that within three years of completion the first vine crops could be harvested.

And there is opposition to comparable "mega-farms" in eastern England, Moorhouse told the outlet that given the country's "very fragile" supply chain, emphasised by environmental shocks like the horrific floodings in eastern Spain last year, there is "a real need to re-shore our fruit and vegetable production".

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has been approached for comment via email.

The application is now with the council consultation with a closing date of June 1.