AROUND 175 full and part-time Forest jobs have been saved after a greeting card company was allowed to expand onto farmland.

JBH Associates Ltd said it needed to build a new warehouse beside its current Pingry Farm site, next to the Lucozade Ribena Suntory plant in Coleford.

The firm, which has a turnover of £1.7m and has operated here for 30 years, claimed it would have to look at relocating to Wales if Forest councillors failed to approve the development, with the loss to the area of 40 full-time and 100 self-employed homeworker jobs, plus a proposed 35 new jobs.

It is having to vacate its rented warehouse space in Cinderford and wants to bring its growing operation onto one site to improve “efficiency” and “reduce costs”, last week’s Forest planning committee was told.

Planning officers recommended refusal of the scheme submitted by farmer Lewis Williams, saying it would “place an unattractive, non-agricultural building on undeveloped land outside the district’s defined settlements”.

But councillors backed the plan unanimously, after they were told the town was desperate for jobs.

District and town councillor Clive Elsmore said: “Employment opportunities are very restricted in Coleford, and we need employment, especially now we are going to have all these new houses in the town.”

Cllr James Bevan (Lydney East, Ind) added: “I think I was on this committee when the farm was originally turned into a small industrial estate, which we did to support the farming community by giving them a little bit of subsidy.

“This has been a success and I’m not going to vote against it. There’s a lack of industrial land available in Coleford.”

Cllr David Easton (Coleford East, Con) said: “This should go ahead, we don’t want to lose jobs,” and was backed by Cllr Roger Yeates (Bromsberrow and Dymock, Con) who added: “We should back an existing business and save jobs.”

Urging councillors to support a “thriving local business”, planning agent Abigail Phillips said: “Every inch of space within the current building has been utilised. Stock now has to be stored outside on pallets or in shipping containers, and the occupier also has to vacate the space they are currently renting in Cinderford.

“The business simply cannot go on operating like this and will relocate if it cannot expand.”

In 2007, applicant Mr Williams became the first farmer in the county to be awarded £70,000 from Gloucestershire Rural Renaissance’s Workspace Investment Programme, to convert a large, redundant cattle shed at Pingry Farm into a warehouse.

The new warehouse unit, which will include parking space, will be open from 6am to 10pm, Monday to Friday, and a half day on Saturday.