Suntory pulls plug on £150m Ayrshire maturation facility
The drinks giant Suntory Global Spirits has scrapped plans to build a controversial £150m whisky maturation facility in East Ayrshire.
Suntory Global Spirits has scrapped plans to build a £150 million whisky maturation facility in East Ayrshire, according to BBC News yesterday 26 March.
Investment redirected
The proposed site at South Drumboy farm in Kilmarnock had received planning permission last year after Scottish government ministers overruled environmental objections.
Suntory – which owns American bourbon Jim Beam – had said the development would create around 45 jobs and hold up to 500,000 barrels of spirits.
In a statement, the company said: “While we are no longer progressing with the Kingswell project, we are redirecting investment to a local maturation facility.
“Our investment in Scotland will continue as we remain focused on the long-term sustainability of our operations, brands and contribution to the economy.”
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The business told BBC News it could not yet provide details on where the redirected investment would go.
Local concerns and planning tensions
The plans had faced opposition from local residents, who raised concerns about noise, water supply, and the potential for ethanol emissions from maturing whisky to encourage black mould growth.
One resident, who declined to be named, said: “There was a lot of concerns here about the potential effects on water supply and the way planning and approval was handled.”
Planning reporter David Buylla had previously recommended that the scheme be abandoned. He criticised the scale and design of the facility and said he was not satisfied that more suitable alternative sites could not be found.
Despite this, Scottish ministers approved the development, stating that Suntory had provided sufficient justification for rejecting alternative locations. They also said the design went “beyond a utilitarian warehousing development”.
Suntory produces several Scotch whisky brands including Laphroaig, Bowmore, Auchentoshan, Teacher’s, Glen Garioch, Ardmore, and Ardray.
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