C Dorgan
Case Officer
Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk

• The farms would likely contaminate local water sources, such as the Cut-Off Channel, the River Wissey, and the Little Ouse River. Only last year, Cranswick plc – which owns Wayland Farms Ltd and Crown Chicken Ltd – was forced to pay £75,000 in fines to the Norfolk Rivers Trust by the Environment Agency for releasing polluted liquid into a Norfolk brook. In 2019, Cranswick had to pay £15,000 in costs after contaminated liquid leaked from its pork-processing site in Watton, Norfolk. If these farms were approved, they could cause further damage to Norfolk’s rivers.
• Operations on the farms – as well as the animals’ waste and the bodies of dead animals – would likely produce strong odours, which could disturb local residents and have a negative impact on their quality of life. Appalled residents situated near Cranswick’s abattoir in Watton, Norfolk, are outraged by the foul smells of manure and dead animals being emitted. Residential complaints about smell and noise have increased five-fold. Locals submitted around 141 complaints in 2023, up from 26 complaints in 2021. Cranswick has done nothing to mitigate the issues. If the two facilities were approved, the situation in Norfolk would likely worsen.
• The noise emitted from almost 870,000 birds and 14,000 pigs could have a negative impact on local residents.
• Ammonia from the waste of pigs and chickens would be emitted from the farm into the surrounding area, likely having a negative impact on air quality and potentially having a detrimental effect on human health, wildlife, and the environment. Norfolk is currently the UK’s third largest producer of toxic ammonia, and these proposals would likely exacerbate this severe issue.
• England’s National Planning Policy Framework makes it clear that climate change must be a consideration for all planning decisions and the planning system should support the transition to a low-carbon future. However, the proposed facilities would not be environmentally friendly. Animal agriculture is a leading cause of the climate catastrophe and accounts for 18% of all greenhouse gases worldwide, which by some accounts is more than all forms of transportation combined.
• The redevelopments would increase the infrastructure on site and subsequently ruin the natural beauty of the local area. The proposed new buildings might be visible to nearby residents, passers-by, and users of the public footpath located near the site.
• Stone-curlew, woodlark, and nightjar birds may nest within Breckland Special Area of Conservation and Breckland Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest, which are located within close proximity to both sites. Dust, sewage, and ammonia emissions from both sites could contaminate these protected areas and pose a threat to nesting birds.
• The construction of proposal 2200866/FM may negatively impact local heritage. The site is considered to be of moderate potential for Bronze Age remains, and construction could hinder major archaeological finds. The proposal 22/00866/FM would also be located within the 20th century Methwold World War II airfield, which is classified as a non-designated heritage asset. This is an area of local interest, and the implementation of an enormous factory farm would likely ruin the historic remains.
• Proposals 22/00860/FM and 22/00866/FM would generate an average of 13 and 47 HGV movements per week, respectively. The developments would result in a huge total of 7,124 lorry journeys per year. The enormous increase in vehicle movements to and from the farms would likely exacerbate local traffic issues and increase accidents, carbon emissions, and pollution.
• Parts of the proposed facility for application 22/00866/FM have areas that are at medium or high risk of flooding. During periods of heavy rainfall, run-off from the farm could contaminate the flooded areas.
• Both facilities would be breeding grounds for disease. The UK is in the midst of the worst-ever outbreak of bird flu, and Norfolk was previously at the epicentre. At the end of 2022, over 100,000 turkeys and geese imprisoned on farms in Norfolk were killed as a result. Cranswick plc also had a dangerous outbreak of salmonella at its Hull poultry facility in 2022 and a severe outbreak of COVID-19 at its Watton abattoir in 2020, with 140 people testing positive out of 300. It’s imperative that we move away from facilities that pose a threat to public health.
• The Cranswick-owned facilities will likely hinder the local community. In August 2022, tenants of 11 houses on Feltwell Farm were evicted by Cranswick plc and given two months’ notice to leave. One tenant described the eviction as “heartbreaking”.
• Demand for the flesh of chickens and pigs has fallen in recent years as more people move away from meat consumption. Sales of animal flesh dropped by 8% between 2020 and 2022, according to The Good Food Institute Europe. It’s vital that we turn to plant-based farming to meet public demand.
• Please consider the individual pigs who would be imprisoned in the facility proposed in application 22/00860/FM. The stress and frustration of extreme confinement can drive pigs to engage in aggressive behaviour such as tail-biting. As a result, farmers routinely cut off their tails and clip or grind down their sensitive teeth, often without painkillers. Despite being naturally clean animals, they’ll be forced to stand in their own waste inside filthy sheds. The Wayland Farms–owned facility already imprisons thousands of pigs, and in 2022, it was suspended from the “RSPCA Assured” scheme after drone footage revealed that 10 to 15 pigs were herded into makeshift pens and cruelly shot. The footage, captured by Ecotricity, shows pigs writhing and convulsing on the ground. Humane-washing schemes such as Red Tractor do nothing to prevent pigs’ suffering on farms. In 2020, footage by Meat the Victims revealed pigs on a Red Tractor–certified farm had gaping wounds and were eating each other alive and that many had been left to die on the farm floor. Once pigs reach the abattoir, they’re typically stunned with electric tongs or suffocated with carbon dioxide in a gas chamber before their throats are slit and they’re left to bleed out.
• Please also consider the individual chickens who would be imprisoned on the proposed facility for application 22/00866/FM. They would live in this miserable facility every day of their lives until they are between 38 and 42 days old. At this point they’d be taken to an abattoir. Up to 870,000 chickens could be crammed into 20 sheds at a time – that’s an astonishing 43,500 chickens per shed. Frankenstein-esque genetic modification meant to maximise profits means chickens on intensive farms grow unnaturally large, developing huge, heavy upper bodies very quickly. Consequently, they suffer from severe health problems, including heart failure and difficulty breathing in the hot, acrid environment. Their young legs cannot support such an unnaturally large body, rendering many chickens unable to move within a couple of weeks. Unable to reach food or right themselves after falling on their backs, many starve. Once the chickens reach the abattoir, they will either be gassed or face a throat-cutting machine before being plunged into scalding-hot water.