Abattoir plans for Dumfries & Galloway

The Dumfries and Galloway Food Cooperative hopes to provide the region’s livestock farmers and butchers with modern facilities, with the backing of Scottish investment agency Scottish Enterprise.

Daniel Hird of Scottish Enterprise, who initiated the project said: “The directors of the Dumfries and Galloway Food Cooperative should be applauded for their hard work, professionalism and commitment to make this happen.

"It is quite an achievement to get this far. However they all recognise they have a long way to go before we see the development of a new all-encompassing meat processing facility in the region, but they are firmly set on achieving that goal.”

As part of the development of the cooperative, a fact-finding tour of abattoirs and meat processing facilities in the north of England, central Scotland and Islay was undertaken.

In order to move the project forward, the cooperative is now considering a number of potential locations for the site of the abattoir within a 15-mile radius of Castle Douglas, with close proximity to the A75. Work has begun on the development of a full business plan, and the facility design is being explored. Additional support for this stage of the project has been pledged by Quality Meat Scotland and the Scottish Agricultural Organisational Society.

In terms of funding, the cooperative is currently planning to make an application to the Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation Grant Scheme, which is funded through the Scottish Rural Development Programme, for a contribution towards the set-up costs with the remainder of the funding raised by the cooperative through either membership fees or the sale of shares.

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