Lower Barn

Sample Template

To: planning@breckland.gov.uk

Subject: Objection PL/2024/1047/FMAJ

Dear Planning Committee, 

I strongly object to the intensive poultry unit application PL/2024/1047/FMAJ to expand Cranswick’s intensive poultry unit (IPU) at Lower Barn Farm, Thetford Road, Garboldisham, IP22 2SP, to keep an additional 80,800 birds, bringing the total kept there to 274,800. If built, chickens will outnumber people by over 200:1 in Garboldisham!

The odours on this farm are already terrible, evidenced by the objections of neighbours in the planning portal sharing their personal experiences. The air pollution and odours caused by this factory farm, the lorries, and the spreading of muck on other fields, raise serious public health concerns, and risk damage to wildlife and the environment.

The traffic will increase by 45%, with some days having up to 30 HGV movements! The roads will be damaged by lorries leading to rising costs for taxpayers. I am concerned about safety for pedestrians and road users with the increase of lorries. The proposal nothing for the local economy, providing only one new full-time job.

The bird flu epidemic gets worse every year. Wild birds and backyard chickens should also be protected from bird flu and this intensive poultry unit will put their health at risk. Scientists also warn that bird flu from intensive poultry farms could lead to the next pandemic, a very serious public health and economic risk. 

In addition to public health concerns about air pollution, odours, and bird flu risks, I am troubled by the contribution of factory farming to antibiotic resistance. Over 2000 people die a year from antibiotic resistant infections, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

The rise of factory farms is holding back housebuilding, because new homes cannot be built where the water is already so polluted from the increase in factory farms and all the muck they produce.

The country is facing severe drought, and we need to conserve water for future generations. I am concerned about the impacts of water abstraction from this farm as well as from growing animal feed for these animals. Water abstraction can have a negative impact on protected designated habitats sights. The negative impacts of water abstraction must be assessed.

The impacts of the spreading on 3rd party fields of chicken manure or digestate produced from this farm must be assessed, following the cases of Squire v Shropshire Council [2019] EWCA Civ 888, NFU v Herefordshire Council [2025] EWHC 536, and Caffyn v Shropshire Council [2025] EWHC 1497. Impacts may include dust, odours, and ammonia emissions, which could impact designated protected sites, wildlife, rivers, and people. Additionally, the environmental impact assessment should consider all of the other existing intensive animal agriculture units in the river catchment and the combined impact on the river catchment of so many factory farms.

 I am concerned about the contribution of this poultry unit to climate change. The planning committee should require a greenhouse gas emissions assessment, following the case of Finch v Surrey County Council [2024] UKSC 20. The Climate Change Committee has called for a 25% reduction in meat consumption by 2040, and this facility will serve to increase the number of broiler chickens in the supply chain; instead, we need to reduce livestock numbers. Furthermore, feed for animals is linked to deforestation; this should also be assessed as part of the environmental impact.

Finally, I am deeply concerned about animal welfare, which is a material planning consideration, following the case of Animal Equality v NE Lincolnshire Borough Council [2025] EWHC 1331. The fast-growing chickens on these farms suffer terribly due to their genetics. And they never see the light of day. Factory farming is inherently cruel and cannot meet the welfare needs of birds.  

The proposed intensive poultry unit is moving to a stocking density of 30kg/m2, which is the same density as the RSPCA assured indoor standard, which includes other requirements as well. Yet in the report “RSPCA Assured: covering up cruelty on an industrial scale,” expert vet Andrew Knight noted the following welfare failures uncovered by investigations of broiler (meat) chickens on RSPCA assured farms. Given Dr Knight’s findings, itt is clear from this report that the proposal cannot meet chickens’ welfare needs by providing 20% more space (30kg/m2 stocking density.) The following are examples of things observed by Dr Knight on RSPCA assured farms:

1.  A dead chick stuck inside an upturned feeder, whilst in another a dead chick was within the feed tray itself.

2. Lines of water dispensers dry and unable to dispense water (as demonstrated by failure to respond to manual stimulation), indicating mechanical failure.

3. In other cases water dispensers were heavily contaminated with faeces and flooring material (sometimes completely full of these), indicating a marked failure of hygienic maintenance so severe that some affected water dispensers were unusable.

In reviewing footage of intensive poultry units, Dr Knight also noted: “Scattered around shed floors a large number of chicks were observed collapsed, apparently unable to right themselves or walk. Some showed rapid, laboured breathing, or were apparently dying. Others were clearly dead…and in early or advanced stages of decomposition. Some appeared to be suffering from diarrhoea, and in one case, from a broken wing. The strains of chicken bred for meat have been genetically selected over many generations, to grow as rapidly as possible, and to have enlarged breast muscles. Unfortunately, however, these extremely elevated growth rates place severe strain on the cardiovascular system, and the joints, soft tissues and bones of the legs, resulting in conditions such as splayed legs, which can result in severe difficulties in walking. A number of such chicks were seen. A proportion of chickens hence die prematurely, and many others become lame. Increasingly severe leg pain and inability to support growing body weight results in immobility for many chickens as they become older and heavier. They spend ever longer on urine-soaked flooring, which commonly results in chemical irritation of the skin for older, heavier chicks.

Many of these birds suffer severely. All crowded into these barren sheds, with minimal opportunities to exercise highly motivated natural behaviours such as foraging and exploring within a naturalistic environment, and dust-bathing, experience chronic stress.”

Dr Knight concluded, “These birds are highly sentient, and such treatment of them is not ethical. Unfortunately, these conditions are common within the meat chicken industry.”

 In conclusion, I call on the council to require:

- An in-combination assessment taking into account all other intensive poultry units in the area, of the impact of the proposed IPU’s muck, emissions, and water abstraction on the catchment, and on protected habitats sites and wildlife.

- A greenhouse gas emissions assessment of indirect and direct emissions, including from animal feed.

- An animal welfare assessment.

For all the reasons above, I object to this factory farm.

Kind regards,

[YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS]