Everything you need to know about Cranswick megafarm plans for Methwod and Feltwell before decision day on Thursday
On Thursday, one of West Norfolk’s most contentious planning applications in years will come to a head.
Cranswick has unveiled its final arguments ahead of a fateful day which will determine whether it can construct two megafarms in Methwold and Feltwell.
It says that the business would erect 20 “state-of-the-art poultry sheds” each housing 35,700 chickens, and would also play host to 14,000 pigs.
The proposals have generated widespread criticism from residents, environmental groups and wildlife charities - but the company insists it would comply with welfare standards while boosting UK food security.
West Norfolk Council officers have recommended the schemes be refused, but there are sure to be more twists and turns on Thursday.
Here is everything you need to know before the meeting…
WHAT ARE THE PLANS?
The two linked applications would produce millions of chickens and thousands of pigs a year. Cranswick says it would create a modern and sustainable farm.
A briefing published last week said: “At a time of rising prices, trade wars and escalating international tensions, now is the time Britain needs to produce more food at home, using modern, efficient and sustainable forms of farming.
“Not doing so will have a detrimental impact on UK economic growth, on food prices for consumers locally and nationally, and on direct and indirect employment opportunities, within Norfolk and across the wider UK.”
“The proposals we have shared are not for a new farm, but for the redevelopment of farms that already exist,” it added.
A farm has been running on the site since the 1960s, and part of the site at Feltwell is already operational as a pig farm.
WHY ARE THERE CONCERNS?
The application has generated more than 15,000 objections, while animal rights groups and environmental campaigners, including the World Wide Fund for Nature, have opposed the scheme.
Reports to the special committee meeting state that the response to a public consultation on the development resulted in objections from parish councils, Norfolk Local Access Forum, Norfolk Wildlife Trust and the borough council’s ecologist.
Some villagers have even claimed plans to build the farms have devalued surrounding properties by 25%. However, this is not a factor that will impact Thursday’s outcome.
Others have argued that the environmental impact of the farm has not been properly assessed and has failed to properly calculate the greenhouse gas emissions it will produce.
Last week, Jake White, head of legal advocacy at wildlife charity WWF, said: "You can’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse - particularly not with a megafarm. The facts here have not changed, and the council’s planning officer report could not be more clear.
“Despite many opportunities to do so Cranswick have not submitted sufficient environmental information about the site and have not demonstrated how they will protect local nature sites from damage.”
WHY HAVE THE PLANS BEEN RECOMMENDED FOR REFUSAL?
A few weeks ago, the borough council’s officers recommended the scheme for refusal.
They said the farms would lie within “close proximity to a number of European protected sites” and citing the “significant effects of the project on the environment”.
The authority’s planning committee will ultimately have the final say.
However, Cranswick has claimed the officers’ report is “littered with basic factual errors”, with some of it “copy and pasted”.
“After over three years of patient engagement with the council on this application, we cannot understand how these and other errors have been included and published in the planning report,” its briefing said.
“We are concerned about the committee’s ability to judge the proposals impartially based on the inaccuracies reported.
“We do not ask for this application to be waved through without due scrutiny. But we do ask that the application is judged in line with the way that other farms have been assessed nearby and that the committee fully takes into account the reasons why this development is needed in the first place.”
A borough council spokesperson retaliated by saying: “As with correspondence from any party received after a planning report is published, the applicant’s comments will be communicated to members as ‘late representations’, along with officer responses, in line with usual planning committee procedure.
“The applicant will also have the opportunity to address members on the matters they raise at the planning committee meeting on Thursday.
“Our planning committee members will hear what they have to say and consider the applications professionally and objectively on the planning issues, as they would any other application.”
WHEN AND WHERE IS THE MEETING?
The special planning committee meeting is scheduled to be held at Lynn Town Hall on Thursday at 9.30am.
It is expected to be well-attended, with members of the press, campaigners, villagers and charity representatives filling the venue.
Whatever the decision, it is sure to have a huge impact on our area.
Even if the plans are turned down, it is unlikely to be the end of the process - as Cranswick could opt to appeal to the Government’s Planning Inspectorate.
That body would then carry out its own decision-making process, potentially leading to the proposals being approved in the coming years.
