EA refuses permit for farm designed to house 24,500 pigs owing to intolerable impact on locals, with proposed Derbyshire site within 100 metres of homes

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A proposed mega pig farm for Derbyshire has been rejected by the Environment Agency (EA) because the stench would be an “offence to human senses”.

The industrial farm was designed to house 24,500 pigs. But the EA said on Monday that the odour from so many animals would intolerably impact on nearby residents. The proposed site was within 100 metres of homes and 250 metres of a prison.

“We are not satisfied that the activities can be undertaken without resulting in significant pollution of the environment due to odour which will result in offence to human senses and impair amenity and/or legitimate uses of the environment,” said the EA decision.

The EA found that Midland Pig Producers (MPP), the company behind the farm, had not provided adequate evidence that it could control the smell.



It also said MPP’s abatement plans were inadequate to stop ammonia leaching into local reserves and areas of wildlife habitat.

The EA’s refusal to grant an environmental permit comes after a long war of words between MPP, local residents and environmental groups and after a long planning permission process.

MPP said Derbyshire county council would likely reject planning permission following the EA decision.

“Given the history leading to this point we find it totally unsurprising that even after such an unfeasibly long period of deliberation and prevarication our application for an environmental permit has eventually been turned down,” said a spokesman.



“And, while not wishing to second-guess any decision by any other body, it seems inevitable that this outcome will provide others with the reason to refuse any application connected with our plans.”

In the US and some European countries pig farming has moved towards an intensive, factory-style approach. The UK’s National Farmers Union has previously argued its domestic pig farming must follow suit in order to compete and protect food self-sufficiency.

Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association, an organic farming group, said: “What is most significant [about the EA’s decision] is the signal this sends to the British farming industry about the future of livestock farming in this country.



“We are not, as if often claimed, on a relentless and unstoppable drive to have bigger and more intensive livestock systems.”

But MPP said the matter was not yet settled and foreshadowed further action if the planning permission was rejected.

“Now that we have an actual decision we can move forward. This is not the end of the matter, but the beginning of the second stage,” said a spokesman.



MPP, which produces 100,000 pigs each year from its six existing farms, declined to elaborate on its future plans.