‘Huge Win for Lincolnshire’: Council Agrees West Lindsey Factory Farm Approval Was Unlawful
A factory farm given approval in Lincolnshire will no longer be built after a successful legal challenge.
West Lindsey District Council waved through plans for a new intensive poultry unit (IPU) in Ingleby, Lincolnshire in June 2026, despite lacking a full picture of its environmental impacts. [1]
In a judicial review claim filed with the High Court, Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF) challenged this approval in July 2026.
Now, the Council has written to CAFF agreeing to overturn its decision and reconsider whether to approve the application.
Maya Pardo, Legal Coordinator at Communities Against Factory Farming, said:
“This is a huge win for Lincolnshire residents, wildlife and almost a million chicks a year who will be spared a lifetime of suffering inside these desolate factory farm sheds.
“It was deeply irresponsible for the Council to approve yet another intensive chicken farm. Factory farms are destroying our countryside, making rivers run green and turning life into a nightmare for rural residents.
“Communities are against factory farming and will make their voices heard to prevent a destructive industrial takeover of cruel intensive farming. Rather than expanding intensive animal agriculture, we urgently need to reduce our meat consumption.”
If it had been built, this IPU would have confined almost one million more birds a year in the UK county with the most factory farms. [2]
Factory farming is a leading cause of nature loss and greenhouse gas emissions. The current food system is the largest driver of global environmental change, and shifting toward plant-based diets is estimated to reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050. [3]
Waste from intensive chicken farming is harming Lincolnshire’s biodiversity and wildlife. Notably, the accumulation of IPUs is putting severe strain on the River Witham, which is already among the ten most polluted rivers in the UK due to intensive poultry farming, according to the Soil Association. [4]
Yet, despite the likely cumulative effects, West Lindsey District Council failed to consider the full impacts of the chicken waste that would be generated, and dismissed the need to assess all the environmental impacts.
CAFF, represented by Richard Buxton Solicitors, challenged the Council over how it assessed the impacts of manure and dirty water. Specifically, since the manure produced by the factory farm would have been transported off site, the Council considered that there were no indirect effects to assess, which was a clear legal error. In response to legal action, the Council conceded it had been wrong to dismiss these indirect impacts.
This is the fifth factory farm that CAFF has successfully overturned through legal action, after approval for a controversial intensive salmon farm was reversed earlier this month. [5]
ENDS
Word count: 456
Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF) works with residents across the UK to review planning applications for intensive farms and submit strong, evidence‑based planning objections. The organisation has helped communities block and overturn multiple intensive poultry unit applications when councils overlooked key environmental and animal‑welfare issues.
All images in this press release, on our social media and on our website can be used with credit to Communities Against Factory Farming under ‘fair use’ for the purposes of reporting.
For information or further comments, please contact:
Daniel (Press Back Office), press@caff.org.uk
Notes to Editors
[1] https://westlindsey-publicportal.statmap.co.uk/horizoNext/publicportal/planningapplications/148300
[2] https://www.worldanimalprotection.org.uk/latest/news/cic-regional/
[3] Willet et al, ‘Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems’ Lancet 2019; 393: 447–92 Published Online January 16, 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31788-4
[4] https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/charity-claims-river-witham-lincolnshire-9156002