THE first stage of an application designed to create a 30-acre pig farm in South Derbyshire has been resubmitted — angering animal rights protestors.
Midland Pig Producers (MPP) had previously withdrawn its application for land in Foston following thousands of objections and a protest outside South Derbyshire District Council’s offices in Civic Way.
However, East Staffordshire Borough Council’s planning department has now received a ‘scoping request’ from Derbyshire County Council — the authority to which the application was resubmitted.
A spokesman for the borough council explained that while planning officers had not yet looked at the documents, they will be asked, as neighbours to the district council, to comment on the application which would appear in an environmental assessment.
Plans for the farm had included 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 also incorporating a visitor centre.
The application, which was originally submitted to the district council’s planning department, also included room for four agricultural workers’ homes with garages, landscaping, a rainwater retention area with parking facilities, weighbridges and security fencing.
Protestors lodged 2,800 objections and the demonstration led the council to request further information from the applicant about noise, odours, ecology and archaeology, and a reconsultation was launched.
MPP’s application was later withdrawn, with a spokesman saying: “We have withdrawn the application submitted to the district council, in acknowledgement of Derbyshire County Council’s recent view that this is a county planning matter.”
Justin Kirswell, campaigns manager for VIVA!, a national charity opposed to animal cruelty, said: “It is disappointing that they will resubmit their application. The people of South Derbyshire and ourselves have been kept in the dark as to why this will go to a different authority.
“We will keep on fighting against it for the same reasons. This hasn’t changed anything.”
