ONE of the most controversial planning issues in South Derbyshire could soon be decided after the deadline for objections ended today.
Midland Pig Producers (MPP) first applied to South Derbyshire District Council for permission to build a 30-acre pig farm on land adjacent to Foston Prison.
The news that it would house up to 2,500 sows, leading to 30,000 piglets, has attracted opposition from local residents as well as Foston and Scropton Parish Council which, along with an action group, submitted objections including health and safety issues, finding endangered species on site and the risk of airborne diseases.
If plans are accepted MPP will also build a feed mill, hoppers, mess block and water treatment buildings together with storage buildings, a service building, methane gas storage tanks supplying an electricity generation facility and incorporating a visitor centre.
The application also includes room for four agricultural workers’ homes with garaging, landscaping, a surface water attenuation pond and rainwater retention area with site parking facilities, weighbridges and security fencing.
MPP says its farm, which would harness the methane power of the 2,500 sows to power a huge generator feeding into the national grid, would not produce bad smells.
The company also said it had been consulting animal rights experts about their plans to keep the pigs in pens.
However, the application has attracted more than 3,000 objections, including from many animal rights groups, and was also resubmitted to Derbyshire County Council as the authority deals with waste management.
Derby Animal Rights group handed in 1,000 hand-written objections to county hall and on Wednesday collected 166 signed objections in Uttoxeter.
Roger Swain, a member of the animal rights group, said: “Uttoxeter was certainly quieter than Derby last Saturday when we did the same thing, but the strength of feeling against the proposed factory farm was much greater. I believe this might be due to Uttoxeter being a smaller market town with many people coming from a rural background.
“We were genuinely surprised by the number of people who were aware of the factory farm through the media reports and a recent Countryfile programme and were adamantly against the idea.”
