Campaign Against Proposed Intensive Pig Operation in
Foston, Derbyshire
Update: July 2013
Overview
Midland Pig Producers (MPP), a subsidiary of the Leavesley Group, has applied to Derbyshire County Council (DCC) for permission to build a 25,000 pig operation on a greenfield
site in the village of Foston, South Derbyshire. The proposed site is within 100m of 35 local
residents, some of whom live immediately adjacent to the site. One young local resident
suffers from a serious heart condition that renders him particularly vulnerable to infection.
It is within 150m of HMP Foston, a womens’ prison containing 400 inmates and staff.
If approved it would be the third largest pig farm in the UK, and almost certainly the largest
built from scratch. MPP are also presenting their design as ‘sustainable intensif ication’,
due to the biogas plant included in the design, and claim that animal welfare will be im proved relative to standard UK intensive systems. For these reasons, Foston would
provide a precedent for the extension of this model across UK agriculture, backed by Government. It is important to stop this here, and send out a strong message to companies
and future investors that ‘agriculture’ that is bad for our health, our environment and our
animals is not acceptable.
The planning process
The deadline for MPP submitting their (hopefully) final round of evidence to DCC passed
on 30/4. They were required to do this after several statutory consultees requested further
evidence and information relating to the environmental impacts of the development. The
consultation response deadline passed on 18/6/2013. The Foston & Scropton Action
Group (FSAG) wrote to statutory consultees, urging them to present objections based on
the following main issues:
• Health Impacts
• Acceleration of ‘super bug’ development and antibiotic resistance through routine
prophylactic use of antibiotics to keep pigs alive.
• Unnacceptable local health risks as a result of emissions; Release of: ABR organisms, bio-aerosols, dust particles PM2.5, PM10, ammonia, MRSA
• Insufficient Odour Mitigation
• Traffic volume & safety
• Greenfield Development/Visual Impact
• Noise, light, vehicle pollution
• Insufficient emergency planning
• Damage to livelihoods of local farmers
• Loss of house value
The headline is that MPP have made signif icant changes to the design that in any way de crease the likelihood of local residents and inmates and staff at HMP Foston being exposed to unacceptable health risks. The economic and developmental basic also remain
unchanged: the conversion of a greenfield site into and industrial one, and the deepening
consolidation of agriculture by big business, worsening the 'get big or get out' dilemma.
For more detailed information on the issues, or supporting evidence, please email
[email protected]
A new planning committee has been appointed after the recent local elections in May. According to the DCC planning department, the scale of the application means it will probably
require a separate meeting to be arranged (as opposed to being added onto the agenda of
a scheduled planning committee meeting). This meeting will not be arranged until the Environment Agency has issued a draft permit for operation, without which the factory cannot
operate (please see below for more info on the permitting process). Given this it looks un likely a planning committee meeting will be able to make a decision before September at
the earliest.
The deadline for consultees to return their responses to the latest submissions has
passed. Of those responding, 3 have objected: South Derbyshire District Council (to whom
the application first went), the County Council Built Heritage Officer, and the County Council Landscape Officer.
Any member of the public within the UK has the ability to object to the proposal until 3
days before the planning meeting (tbc). They can do so through the Council’s website and
our online petition. They can also add their support through the FSAG Facebook group,
follow @pigbusiness for updates on Twitter.
The Environmental Permitting Process
The factory, including waste processing and power generation facilities, needs an environmental permit in order to operate. The site needs permission for the following operations:
Intensive Farming - proposal for the development of a pig farm including 2,500
sows, 8,000 pigs up to 30kg and 14,000 production pigs > 30kg with slurry removal,
effluent treatment plant, anaerobic digestion plant and subsequent biogas combustion plant of up to 5MW. It includes the following activities listed in schedule 1 to the
Regulations:
◦ Section 6.9 A(1)(a)(ii) Rearing of pigs intensively in an Installation with more
than 2,000 places for production pigs (over 30kg)
◦ Section 6.9 A(1)(a)(iii) Rearing of pigs intensively in an installation with more
than 750 places for sows
◦ Section 5.4 A(1)(a)(i) Disposal of non-hazardous waste with a capacity
exceeding 50 tonnes per day by biological treatment (effluent treatment)
◦ Section 5.4 Part A(1) - Standard rules SR2012, No9 - Part A installation –
On-farm anaerobic digestion facility including the use of the resultant biogas
These permits are granted by the Environment Agency (EA) (as opposed to the local authority). The decision is not made by elected officers, instead by civil servants. The EA cur rently has a deadline for a public consultation on a permit for Foston for 31 st July. More information can be found on the EA's website here. We are currently formulating our response to this and will produce information for other bodies and members of the public to
object with as soon as possible (please contact [email protected] otherwise). If
the EA does not grant a permit, DCC will delay or permanently postpone their decision.
Opposition and campaign progress
FSAG has been opposing this development for several years, and can count the delays so
far as a success in increasing the costs of initiating such schemes.
The national change.org petition now has over 29,000 signatures. The Council received
14,233 objections from unique email addresses, and 2,381 letters. Two petitions were submitted to them, with a total of 1,184 signatures. On 22nd July Viva handed over thousands
of objections to the Council alongside Jim Davies of the local action group. The number of
objections so far is therefore around 50,000.
Local political opposition is now resounding: South Derbyshire District Council, to whom
the application was first submitted, rejected it unanimously in November 2011. They
voted to uphold this decision in light of new MPP evidence submission in June 2013. The
local councillor, Julie Patten, is strongly objecting. Local MPs Heather Wheeler and Chris
Williamson are both firmly in opposition.
100% of residents living with 100m - about 35 people - who form part of the consultation
process, have written collectively to the council expressing their strong objection to the
proposal.
Ben Compton QC has written to DCC to the effect that the failure to prevent the operation
being built could represent a failure in the duty of care towards the inmates of Foston prison, and that their human rights may be infringed under Article 8, the right to private and
family life, of the Human Rights Act 1998. The letter is in the process of being updated for
resubmission.
There are several national groups opposing the development, including Farms Not Factories, Friends of the Earth, the Soil Association and Viva.
Several public figures have registered their objections, including Leslie Ash, Dominic West,
Roger Moore and Zac Goldsmith.
What is to be done
Awareness
The public both locally and nationally must be made aware of the dangers pertaining to
this application, and the negative consequences that permission would ensure. We have
been successful in keeping the story in the local media through press releases, and there
have been several stories run in the Daily Mail, Independent and Guardian recently, either
specif ically on Foston, or on the role of livestock production in the rise of anti-biotic resistant drugs.
Please share media widely to raise awareness of the key public health issues involved.
Follow @pigbusiness for more regular updates, and visit the web-page for up to date information.
Building support & objecting
Please share the change.org petition widely, encourage people to join the FSAG Facebook
group, and advertise the Council’s objection portal for those who want to make more detailed objections. Resources for making objections can be found here.
Objections to the Environment Agency regarding the environmental permit should be
emailed to: [email protected], quoting reference EPR/
LP3930FA/A001. Further information on objecting to the EA should be available soon
(email [email protected])
If your group or organisation would like to submit a more detailed objection, we will be
happy to provide more information.
Public events
When the planning meeting date is released we will be able to plan a series of public
events in the run-up, designed to maximise attention on the issue and pressure on local
councillors. If you are happy to help publicise these/spread the word, please let us know.
Contacts
If you, or your organisation, have any useful contacts within Derbyshire politics, national
politics, the industry, any relevant statutory bodies, the media (local or national) or with
other groups that would like to assist, please do get in touch with
[email protected]
Further Info
More info can be found on the campaign page on our website.
For
detailed
material
for
writing
objections,
please
email
[email protected].
19 min film The Dark Side of Factory Farming, summarising some of the main issues associated with intensive pig farming.