Following the rejection of its application, Cranswick has stated it is “incredibly disappointed” by the decision of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council Planning Committee.
The pork and poultry producer had proposed the redevelopment of farms in Methwold and Feltwell that Cranswick had purchased in 2018.
It sought permission to redevelop an existing pig farm and redundant poultry sheds to make way for 20 poultry sheds, each housing 35,700 chickens reared to standards exceeding current Red Tractor accreditation.
The farms are located 1.5km away from Methwold and 1.7km away from Feltwell. The farmland on the Methwold site is currently home to old pig sheds, which Cranswick said would be redeveloped into higher welfare, bio-secure poultry barns, with the producer highlighting that it would bring sheds at the Feltwell site “up to the very latest standards of modern pig farming and production”.
Planning Committee rejects proposals
At a Planning Committee meeting in early April, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council heard from Cranswick representatives as well as members of the meat industry.
Barry Lock, Cranswick East Anglia managing director, highlighted that the UK is “currently only 50% self-sufficient in pork and 70% in chicken”, stating that “with recent reductions in stocking density, and the restrictions on planning, this is likely to get worse”.
He mentioned that there were more than 15,000 reports of complaints to the application: “The reality is the vast majority of these are not from people who live in the local area as the map shows.
“Our analysis of the postcodes shows over 90% of these are not local complaints. We’ve even had complaints from Rome, Lisbon, and California. When you look at the majority of local concerns, they are about traffic, waste, and odour, and we have addressed these with Highways Agency and the EA, who are not objecting to this development.”
Executive director of the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) Jason Aldiss said at the meeting: “On the pig side, the farm currently holds an Environment Agency permit for 29,000 pigs. This proposal cuts that in half – to just 14,000 animals – and commits to full compliance with RSPCA Assured standards, which go well beyond the legal minimums.
“To be clear, these standards exceed not only Red Tractor requirements, but also typical practices in Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, and far beyond. In countries like Brazil or the United States, pigs are routinely kept on slatted floors in barren environments, with intensive confinement still commonplace. That is not the system being proposed here.
“On the poultry side, the proposal includes 20 new chicken houses, each accommodating birds at 20% lower stocking densities than the Red Tractor baseline. That means more space per bird, better ventilation, and reduced stress and lameness – core indicators of welfare.”
Aldiss continued: “Contrary to media reporting, neither of the developments are ‘US Style Mega Farms’. Their scale is based on the need to be efficient, provide control and best-in-class standards.
“As a veterinary professional, I am confident that this farm will raise the bar for animal welfare in the UK. As a representative of the industry, I know it will help secure the future of ethical, sustainable British farming.”
“This broken system is proving a huge barrier to realising the Labour Government’s goals of growth and food security.”
Nick Allen, BMPA
A Cranswick spokesperson said: “We are incredibly disappointed by today’s decision. This is a bad day for the sustainable production of British meat. We’ll now take time to review the decision and consider the options available to us.”
Following the decision, BMPA CEO Nick Allen stated: “Despite the fact that the Environment Agency has approved the site to house up to 29,000 pigs, Cranswick’s proposal was only for 14,000, reared in extra space to RSPCA Assured standards. And yet the application suffered another refusal by a committee that struggled to answer simple questions about the proposal and had to be corrected over erroneous information at one point.
“Regardless of the eventual outcome, the process should not, by any reasonable measure, be taking this long. Businesses that want to make new investments in British industry should not have to commit such a disproportionate amount of resource and time just to get a decision. Apart from the disincentive to invest it clearly poses, this broken system is proving a huge barrier to realising the Labour Government’s goals of growth and food security.”
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