Odour worry over royal estate's slurry lagoon plan

The proposed site of the slurry pit is outlined in red

Plans for a slurry lagoon for farms on the royal estate in Norfolk have led to concerns about odours.

Sandringham Farms at West Newton, near King's Lynn, wants to create a storage reservoir to hold nearly 10,000 cubic metres of organic fertiliser.

The planning application says it would provide storage for fertiliser at Icknield Way, for use on 2,700 hectares of arable and livestock land.

Flitcham Parish Council said it had concerns about the lagoon being "in close proximity to the village" and, in particular, about the smell.

In a letter to the the Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk, which is the planning authority, the parish council requested more information, asking if the lagoon would be covered and querying measures to mitigate odours.

It said it was also concerned about any possible safety issues.

According to the application, the site is "ideally located to meet the need for storage capacity being centrally located to the network of fields in question, as well as being visually contained by the mature vegetation forming the field boundaries".

The applicant also said its close proximity to a network of farm tracks "would enable fertiliser to be readily transported to and from the lagoon".

The applicant said the facility would enable the business to acquire fertiliser when demand was low and to reduce vehicle movements at busy times. It would cover an area of 1,716 square metres and would be enclosed.

The borough council said a decision on the application was expected by 15 December.