Megafarm permit blocked over environment fears

Chickens would be reared in huge sheds like this one

A permit for a proposed megafarm for 714,000 chickens has been turned down because of pollution concerns.

Councillors had already refused to give food producer Cranswick planning permission to expand its site at Methwold, Norfolk, earlier this year.

Now, the Environment Agency said it would not grant a permit for the farm – which would also have 14,000 pigs – because it did not believe "reasonable measures" had been put in place to minimise the impact of ammonia from it.

Cranswick – which is one of the UK's largest food suppliers – said it was "disappointed" and was "working to assess all of the options for the site".

MP Terry Jermy said the farm would be a "blight" on local people's lives

Cranswick's expansion plans have always been controversial.

The company said it wanted to modernise for a growing market, offering more British food, produced to higher welfare standards, through the redevelopment of existing farms.

However, more than 12,000 objections were sent to King's Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council, along with a 42,133-signature petition.

Councillors rejected the proposals in April, with the authority's officers warning it had failed "to demonstrate the development would not result in significant adverse effects" on protected sites nearby.

Following the decision, Cranswick said it was "a bad day for the sustainable production of British meat".

Each shed that Cranswick wants to use would house about 35,000 chickens

Separate to its planning application, the firm had also applied to the Environment Agency to modify its existing permit for the site.

The agency warned ammonia gas generated by manure from the farm was likely to have "an adverse effect" on the nearby Breckland Special Protection Area and Breckland Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest.

It also said Cranswick had not provided enough information about how it would mitigate that.

Refusing the application for an environmental permit, it said it did not agree Cranswick "has applied all reasonable measures to minimise the impact of the predicted ammonia from the proposed installation".

The Labour MP for South West Norfolk, Terry Jermy, said the proposals crossed "a red line for me".

"We have seen similar applications over the past few years from large food producers who are proposing sites that will be detrimental to our environment," he added.

"This would have blighted the lives of local people and the environment for many years to come."

Cranswick said it was now "working to assess all of the options for the site".

"The site already has a permit in place and therefore we are disappointed to have been informed by the Environment Agency of their decision to refuse the permit for the redevelopment of the site," a spokesman added.