ANIMAL rights activists have descended on Burton to wage war against a controversial pig farm application.
Two Burton protesters who are part of Derby Animal Rights Group joined their counterparts in Station Street for three hours yesterday and collected 177 signatures against plans for a 25,000-sow farm in Foston.
Sarah Elson and Robert Gipson, from Burton, joined Roger Swain and Will Maxwell to hand out leaflets and encourage signatures of support.
The plans submitted to Derbyshire County Council by Midland Pig Producers (MPP) include a feed mill, hoppers, a mess block, water treatment buildings together with storage buildings, a service building, methane gas storage tanks supplying an electricity generation facility and a visitor centre.
The application also includes room for four agricultural workers’ homes with garages, landscaping, a rainwater retention area with parking facilities, weighbridges and security fencing.
However, proposals have faced fierce criticism from residents and animal rights protesters nationwide and attracted thousands of objections, citing fears over noise, odours and cruelty to animals.
Protesters made Burton their next port of call after previous demonstrations in Derby and Uttoxeter.
Mr Swain said: “We are here to get as many objections as possible to this factory farm.
“It is easier to stop this in the planning stages than when it is built “The reaction has been really good. We haven’t done that much shouting and people have been coming over to us. We collected about 50 signatures in the first 30 minutes.
“If the farm is built, 25,000 pigs will never see the light of day. There will also be pollution, ground water waste and traffic problems.
“We have about 7,000 objections altogether.
We have a good chance of winning this. It has already been delayed for Derbyshire County Council to decide the plans rather than the district council, and we stopped a mega farm being built in Lincolnshire.”
A spokesman for Midland Pig Producers said: “As we have said previously, we absolutely respect the fact that different individuals and organisations have a right to their own opinion, just as we accept that some people eat meat and some people don’t.
“However, we would like that opinion to take into account the full and accurate facts as stated in our planning application, which are supported by independent organisations.”
