Furious villagers hit out at plans to build 'mega

Release time：2024-05-07 21:39:58 Source：Culture Chronicle news portal

Anxious villagers have attacked 'outrageous' plans to build a giant factory farm they describe as a 'monstrosity right on our doorstep'.

Up to 870,000 chickens and 14,000 pigs will be housed just 400 yards apart at the site, which was once used as a World War II airfield.

Cranswick, the giant food firm behind the plans, insist the two developments between Methwold and Feltwell in Norfolk will operate separately as a 'bio-precaution'.

But residents say it will amount to a huge 'mega-farm' which will churn out foul odours including ammonia fumes, generate swarms of flies and have thousands of lorries thundering past homes.

Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council is yet to rule on the two planning applications for the neighbouring units but has been flooded with objections.

A view of the old chicken sheds which could be demolished to make way for 20 giant new sheds at Methwold, Norfolk

An aerial view of old and dilapidated chicken sheds at Methwold

Denise Charlesworth-Smith who is battling plans to build new pig and poultry units

MailOnline revealed this week how villagers living near a much smaller Cranswick chicken plant had been plagued with flies for the last two summers at Westhall, near Halesworth, Suffolk.

It has also reported how locals in Stow Bedon, Norfolk, were complaining of nose bleeds, headaches, breathing problems and spoiled food, which they blamed on the stench of ammonia from a Cranswick pig farm.

EXCLUSIVEREAD MORE: Poultry farm has brought a plague of flies to our homes: Outraged villagers claim enormous £1.5million chicken unit home to 40,000 birds has created an invasion of insects

Former Methwold parish councillor Denise Charlesworth-Smith, who co-founded the Cranswick Objection Group to oppose the plans, said: 'It is going to be factory farming on a monstrous scale.

'It is going to deal with well over four million chickens and 56,000 pigs every year and will have a massive effect on the lives of people who live locally.

'It is totally out of keeping with the area. Some people think it will bring lots of jobs but everything will be automated and run with minimal staff.

'I visited the farm at Stow Bedon and the smell was absolutely disgusting, even though it is much smaller than the pig unit that is proposed here.

'My eyes were so bad as I was smarting from the ammonia when I was walking up to the site, even though I was told that it was not a particularly bad day.

'I dread to think what it is going to be like round here for people who suffer respiratory problems like COPD if it goes ahead.'

Under the proposals, the broiler unit for chickens will have 20 sheds, each measuring 320ft by 79ft with enough floor space to hold 43,500 birds, according to planning documents.

The chickens will be hatched in the sheds from eggs which have been laid at nearby farms. At seven weeks they will be taken to Cranswick's plant in Eye, Suffolk, for 'processing'.

The pigs will be housed in 14 sheds, each around 230ft by 49ft, and able to hold 1,000 of the animals.

Planning documents showing the 14 proposed new pigs sheds

A view of the old chicken sheds which are set to be demolished by food giant Cranswick

Cranswick, the giant food firm behind the plans, insist the two developments between Methwold and Feltwell in Norfolk will operate separately as a 'bio-precaution'

Residents say it will amount to a huge 'mega-farm' which will churn out foul odours including ammonia fumes

Shirley DeÕath (left) and Pat Welsh (right) pictured together at the sheds

Clair McClean, 46, of Methwold, is also objecting the plans over the building proposals

The Cranswick planning application describes it as 'a finishing unit' where pigs reared outdoors are taken when they are 12 weeks old and weigh around 77lbs.

They will stay indoors for another 12 weeks until they reach their target weight of around 240lbs and are ready to be slaughtered.

Concerns have been raised that it will be only 440ft away from the Breckland Special Area of Conservation (SPA) which is designated due to its population of nightjar, stone curlew and woodlark birds.

The Breckland Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) will also only be about a third of a mile away.

But Cranswick insists in its planning application there are no birds breeding on the proposed sites, and the developments would only cause 'negligible disturbance'.

READ MORE: Our village pig farm smells so bad it is causing us nose bleeds and spoiling our food: Neighbours say they have even been told not to get pregnant

Cranswick Objection Group's website describes the combined units as 'a monstrosity right on our doorstep' and 'an overwhelming catastrophe that could destroy our homes, our health and our landscape'.

The group claims the plans have been drawn up 'without any consideration whatsoever to the local residents, wildlife and fauna.'

It adds: 'Not only will the stench, the noise and the swarms of flies be sickening, but the additional HGV traffic on country roads will turn a simple journey for us into an absolute nightmare.'

Members of the group have accused former prime minister Liz Truss, who is their local South West Norfolk MP, of effectively snubbing them by not taking up their concerns.

They suggest that she is sympathetic to Cranswick as executives from the firm accompanied her on a trade trip to China to promote UK food and drink when she was Environment Secretary in 2015.

Shirley De'ath, 61, a retired client service manager for an animal charity who co-founded the Cranswick Objection Group, said: 'We have contacted her on several occasions, and she will not entertain speaking to us.

'She says she is not allowed to get involved in planning applications but she has raised concerns about plans for an incinerator at Wisbech and a travellers' site at Dereham, as well as overhead pylons for wind farms.'

Mrs De'Ath added: 'There is absolute uproar from local people who are objecting daily to this. It is a disaster waiting to happen.

'There are already issues at much smaller farms in the county that have faced constant bad smells, flies and poor air quality.'

Residents say it will generate swarms of flies and have thousands of lorries thundering past homes

Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council is yet to rule on the two planning applications

MailOnline revealed this week how villagers living near a much smaller Cranswick chicken plant had been plagued with flies for the last two summers at Westhall, near Halesworth, Suffolk

view of the picture postcard village of Methwold, Norfolk

Under the proposals, the broiler unit for chickens will have 20 sheds, each measuring 320ft by 79ft with enough floor space to hold 43,500 birds, according to planning documents

The village sign of Methwold located in Norfolk

A spokesperson for Ms Truss insisted she had reacted to plans for the units, saying: 'Liz has taken up residents' concerns with the Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, which is run by Independent councillors.

'They are responsible for the decision on this issue and the enforcement of environmental standards, along with the Environment Agency.'

Claire McClean, 46, of Methwold, who works for an innovation company, said: 'You expect a certain level of smells when you live in the countryside, but the megafarm will put it on a different level.

'The amount of excrement produced will be just crazy. It is going to be a major impact on our quality of life.

'The ammonia plume is going to do terrible damage and I worry about the effect on the River Wissey, which is a chalk-fed stream. It could kill fish and neutralise everything. It is going to be bigger than the O2 and visible from space.'

The poultry farm would be built by Cranswick subsidiary Crown Chicken on an area of farmland containing a series of run down poultry huts which have not been used for many years and will be demolished.

The pigs will be housed by another Cranswick subsidiary, Wayland Farms, in 'high quality purpose-built' units, replacing a range of existing run down pig buildings.

The current site for pigs has capacity for 37,500 of the animals, although it is operating at 20 per cent capacity with only 7,500 piglets due to the existing buildings being in such poor condition.

Cranswick states that it will use 'the latest technologies and equipment' to run a 'more efficient' operation with potential 'noise and carbon saving' to produce a 'high quality product'.

The company insists in planning documents that the units will 'not be detrimental to the local environment or residences', and the distance from local village centres would 'ensure potential impacts are minimalised' .

Other Cranswick documents predict that both units combined will increase potential lorry movements annually in the area from 4,951 to 10,067.

A spokesman said: 'Cranswick are still working with Kings Lynn and West Norfolk district Council to finalise the plans and ensure all of the relevant background work is completed.

'The process is nearing completion and we hope to submit final plans in the summer. As soon as the plans are finalised, we will update the local community on the confirmed proposals.'

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