| A massive £80m will be invested at the 91-hectare site located along the Seamark Road on the farm owned by Robert Montgomery Ltd. The site, now officially named Thanet Earth, will include seven glasshouses, each covering the area of around 10 football pitches and will use the very latest in efficient hydroponic growing techniques.
An automated packing facility will be built at the site as the huge scale of the project allows the venture to exploit recent technological innovations to increase its efficiency. With the addition of the Research and Visitor complex, Fresca expects the site to become the UK’s leading centre for developing new varieties. As part of the educational programme, schools and the local community will be invited to witness the process that gets the crop to their plates.
The greenhouses will be computer-controlled and will produce crops 52 weeks a year. They will be equipped with the latest growing kit including the CHP (Combined Heat and Power) installations that will provide enough electricity to supply over 50,000 homes; more than half Thanet’s needs. CHP will generate power for the National Grid and will produce the by-products needed to grow the crops. Thanet Earth will use the hot water to replace conventional boiler heating normally needed to warm the greenhouses and the carbon dioxide will be absorbed by the plants as part of the natural growing process.
Planning permission for the final scheme was granted on 21 September 2007 and the first glasshouses are scheduled for construction in March 2008. The first Thanet Earth crops will hit the shelves during autumn next year. |
