Member Article

Darlington's Tweddle family granted permission to expand historic dairy site

Darlington-based family business Acorn Dairy has been granted council permission to expand its operations in the region and further its production output.

The organic dairy, which delivers milk, butter and cheese across the region, is run by the Tweddle family who have farmed at Archdeacon Newton, near Darlington, since 1928.

Four generations later, the Tweddles remain heavily involved in dairy farming and supply businesses and homes across the North of England.

Located on a scheduled ancient monument, protected by Historic England, the dairy site has been faced with a complicated planning task in etching out project and construction boundaries.

The business turned to specialist North East consultancy George F. White to help it navigate each stage of architectural approval.

Graham Tweddle, Director of Acorn Dairy, explained: “We always knew planning was going to be difficult to achieve, and having worked with George F. White on our wind turbine project they were the first choice for this application.

“Working closely with both the planning and architectural consultants at George F. White, we’ve been able to expand our business and increase production, and delivery of, organic dairy products to businesses and homes across the North of England.”

Hunter Hardy, Head of Architectural Team at George F. White, added: “The development involved the construction of large buildings, including a huge steel framed building along with new offices, on a scheduled ancient monument site.

“Our planning and architectural teams joined forces to gain planning consent from Darlington Borough Council on behalf our client so that the dairy unit could reach its full potential.

“Working with the client and the contractor, we put together our planning and architectural skills and resource to provide strategic definition and direction to the client, starting from the creation of design concepts for the site through to the provision of a construction programme for the chosen contractor.

“As a result, collectively we secured a successful outcome at the first attempt for the client on a very unique site.”

Graham added: “We can’t thank the team at George F. White enough for all of the support, guidance and expertise they provided in securing planning permission from Darlington Borough Council, and Historic England, which made the whole project possible.”

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