A HAMPSHIRE brewery has withdrawn plans to build new state-of-the-art premises on the outskirts of Bishop’s Waltham following talks with upset residents.

Plans to build a new site for Upham Brewery were submitted for a new building off Ashton Lane which would allow the firm to increase its production five-fold.

A recently-formed pressure group had warned the move would further endanger roads, damage house prices and set a precedent for greenfield development.

The new factory would see Upham Brewery's output increase to 60,000 casks a year.

The firm has decided to go back to the drawing board after two public consultations, despite previous warnings that no alternative sites are available.

The firm, which has outgrown its site at Stakes Farm, said it needed to stay in the vicinity to access locally-sourced water and will work closely with the parish council to identify other sites.

Hampshire Chronicle:

Bishop's Waltham residents speak out against the proposed expansion off Ashton Lane

David Butcher, director of Upham Brewery said: “We’d like to review everything else and look at other options that sit better with the local community considering the amount of objections to the site we have proposed. We want to see if there’s any other alternative and engage with the parish council and others to see if we can find somewhere else.

“We’re going to hold that and we may come back to this site but it’s important that we make sure everyone’s happy with the efforts we have made. We need to move relatively quickly; we’re running out of capacity where we are.

“Over the next three months we would like to carry out that whole process again. We need to be more openly demonstrating what we’re trying to do.”

Hampshire Chronicle: LOCAL CONNECTION: Director David Butcher and CEO Chris Phillips, of Upham Ale Company.

David Butcher, director of Upham Brewery, with chief executive Chris Phillips

Since it was founded in 2009, Upham Brewery has seen a rapid rise in demand for its products.

Further growth plans means it will expand from its current 12-pub portfolio to between 30 to 40 in the next three to four years.

Libby Cleaver, founder of the Friends and Neighbours of Bishop's Waltham and Lower Upham action group, said: “I’m not at all surprised to hear they have withdrawn. We are just an ordinary group of people and we were quite concerned about it. But we are so happy that it worked and there is a chance that our example could be followed elsewhere.

“It’s not Upham Brewery that we object to, it’s simply their choice of site and Upham Brewery will, I’m sure, always be well respected in this locality. They are a great firm which is going places and we would like to always give them support. They are welcome here in South Hampshire, as a good example to others about how industry can develop.”

Colin Palma, of Ashton Close, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic news and it’s definitely a triumph for ordinary people expressing their concerns over the effects on not only Bishop’s Waltham but also the South Downs National Park.”