'Megafarm' plans are unlawful, say campaigners

A campaign group has claimed an application to build one of the UK's biggest industrial farms is "unlawful".

Food producer Cranswick wants to expand an existing site in Methwold, Norfolk, so it can rear millions of chickens and tens of thousands of pigs every year in the county.

But the business network Sustain has argued that the planning application breaks the law, because it does not outline the greenhouse gas emissions that could be produced by the site.

A spokesman for Cranswick said: "We have considered the extent to which the full analysis of GHG emissions were required for this planning application and are satisfied that all of the necessary information has been included."

Cranswick is a pork and chicken producer which supplies meat to major supermarkets.

In April, it applied to increase the size of a farm on land at Methwold which was previously an RAF base.

Plans for the development, which has been described as a "megafarm", have been lodged with West Norfolk Council.

They show the company wants to pull down existing poultry sheds and build 20 new ones to house 870,000 chickens.

It also wants to create 14 new buildings for 14,000 pigs - and accommodation for people working on the site.

Ruth Westcott is a campaign manager for Sustain, a network that represents around 100 organisations across the food sector.

She said the council had not asked Cranswick to include its predicted greenhouse gas emissions in its application.

"Our advice says the council acted unlawfully because they scoped climate change out of the application," she said.

"That means information around the likely greenhouse gas impacts hasn't been included in a way which would allow the public or the council to be able to assess this project properly on climate change grounds."

West Norfolk council said it had received more than 15,500 objections to the proposal which it said was "unusual".

They raise concerns about pollution and traffic problems as well as possible smell from the site.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has also submitted a letter to the council, claiming the environmental impact of the farming complex had not been properly assessed.

But Cranswick, which employs 14,000 people across the UK, said the project would create a sustainable and modern farm helping to deliver affordable food.

West Norfolk Council was due to decide the application earlier this year.

But the decision has been delayed as the authority checks it has received all the relevant information from the applicant.

A spokeswoman for the council said it would be conducting a public consultation into the proposal "shortly".

A council report into the scheme is expected to be published early next year.

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