Cranswick has insisted a protracted planning application for a multimillion-pound ‘megafarm’ in Norfolk and its measures to reduce emissions and maintain air quality meets all statutory environmental requirements.
The meat and poultry giant’s proposed redevelopment of its farms in the Methwold and Feltwell areas of Norfolk will see it revamp existing operations (in use for the past 60 years) with the construction of 14 purpose-built barns for 14,000 pigs and 20 chicken sheds with the capacity to hold 714,000 birds.
Cranswick said the development would “transform how the farm operates” – in turn helping increase the UK’s self-sufficiency in both pork (which stands at 50%) and chicken (which stands at 75%).
However, the planning process has been dogged by thousands of objections from local residents due to concerns over issues such as waste, odour, traffic, water and air quality and emissions.
Feedback Global and Sustain also last month claimed, in a joint submission to a public consultation, that the development – which had the potential to produce over six million chickens and 56,000 pigs a year – could increase borough-wide emissions by 6%, jeopardising both local and national climate targets.
The pair’s objections included claims that the application had failed to assess “the direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions the site would generate, as is required by law in planning decisions for major developments following a Supreme Court ruling last year” – making it effectively “unlawful”.
The NGOs further claimed this week that intensive poultry and pig farms across East Anglia, including many of Cranswick’s farms, had breached environmental rules “hundreds of times in recent years”.
FOI pollution breach claims
Data obtained via a freedom of information request released by Feedback and Sustain showed how such farms had violated environmental regulations at least 776 times since 2017 – or at least twice a week – with Cranswick operations breaching environmental permit regulations some 91 times in that period.
“The finding that industrial farms in East Anglia are committing the equivalent of two environmental breaches every single week starkly underlines why King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council must firmly reject the current proposal for a climate-wrecking megafarm near Methwold,” said Feedback campaigns director Natasha Hurley.
But in response, Cranswick told The Grocer the majority of its environmental permit infractions were advisory or minor notices, rather than major breaches to the permit.
“The definition and severity of a breach varies but if there were significant challenges to the operation of any our farms, the Environment Agency could revoke the licence, which has not happened,” it added.
The supplier also stressed it had submitted all reports and information that had been requested as part of the planning process to the local council.
Cranswick’s carbon assessments for its pig and poultry operations “would highlight our emissions 30-50% lower than the UK average for pork and poultry, which is already significantly lower than global production averages”, it pointed out.
The capacity of the chicken farms had also been reduced by 20% since first proposed some three years ago, in line with customer moves to reduce stocking densities, the supplier added.
A spokesman said: “We have worked extensively with Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council to ensure we have met the requirements of the planning application and are waiting for them to confirm a hearing date.
“The proposals include the latest available Technology to reduce emissions, manage air quality and allay the concerns raised by local residents about the operation of the site.”
A decision on the proposals is expected by the spring.
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