East Brabourne distillery granted planning approval

A planning application to convert an agricultural storage building in the Kentish village of East Brabourne has been approved by Ashford Borough Council.

Once complete, Pleasant Land Distillery will use by-products from the adjacent vineyard to make fruit spirits and grain whiskey.

The application was put forward by father and son Charles and Seb Barnick. They plan to create drinks using products sourced from the local area, supporting local agriculture.

The new brewery could also create three new jobs in the area, as the application states it could have a permanent staff of five by 2023.

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When the plans were initially submitted, Seb Barnick said: "We are proud to announce our submission for a micro-distillery, producing single pot still grain whisky made with local heritage grain varieties such as Old Kent Red wheat.

"We will be using grain from the neighbouring farms and the spent grain will be used by local farmers for animal feed. In this way, we will create a traditional rural, circular economy with a naturally low carbon footprint.

"We also intend to release limited volumes of fruit spirits from heritage Kentish fruits and a small batch gin. Our longer-term vision is to finish our whisky in the casks used to mature the local fruit spirits."

Despite objection from local residents, Ashford Borough Council approved the plans in a meeting on 17 August.

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