Animal rights group calls for pig farm refusal

A decision on whether the plans can go ahead will be taken at the Planning Committee meeting tomorrow.

Animal Aid Director, Isobel Hutchinson said: “Approving this industrial pig unit would set a dangerous precedent for the intensification of UK farming. If these scaled-back plans are given the green light, it will be much easier to gain permission for the original 30,000-pig unit in the future.

“The suffering that these thousands of animals would undergo is truly abhorrent. We believe there are many other compelling reasons why councillors should refuse permission. These include an increase in traffic to the point that Reahill Road would have to be widened and intruding on the countryside with industrial-scale agricultural buildings. Chunks of the landscape would even have to be carved out to make the surface level enough for building on.

“Given that they would cause a disturbing level of animal suffering and could have a highly detrimental impact on the environment and the local community, we strongly urge councillors to reject these plans.’