Locals Fight Back after National Campaign to Inflate Support for Factory Farm Plans
Residents came together at a meeting in Tottenhill and Wormegay Village Hall to oppose an application to expand an intensive poultry farm to confine 2.5 million chickens a year in Setchey, Kings Lynn. [1]
Eighteen local residents attended the meeting on 16 September, raising concerns about traffic and road safety, and the health risks and odours that could result from further intensification.
The application is to replace and expand Setchey Poultry Farm, from its current 40,000-turkey operation to 330,000 broiler chickens. Each bird will be a ‘Frankenchicken’ fast-growing breed, meaning they will live for at most 38 days, growing enormously and painfully. Planning documents show that 30% of birds will be killed at day 30; the rest on days 37 and 38.
Meanwhile, a coordinated national campaign to flood the planning portal with support has resulted in more than one hundred pro-factory farm comments, including many factually inaccurate statements, from Leighton Buzzard to Monmouth.
One supporter in Hereford wrote: “No doubt the application will create alot of employment” [sic]. In fact, the proposals will not create any new jobs, the applicants’ plans admit. [2]
Many of the comments in support have come from Herefordshire, where the factory farm applicant EC Drummond is based. In May, EC Drummond carried out No-Fault evictions of Norfolk renters to prepare for its factory farm expansion plans. [3]
In contrast, the majority of objections are from neighbours, with dozens of objections submitted in West Winch and Setchey, as well as from surrounding Norfolk villages. The nearest residential property is just 190 metres from the proposed sheds.
North Runcton Parish Council has stated it “cannot support the application” because it does not align with its local policy goals. [4]
Freya McGregor, 26, a Veterinary Nurse from Setchey, said:
“I object to these terrible plans on the basis of animal welfare needs being unmet, as they statistically most commonly are in factory farm conditions. Despite stickers of 'welfare guarantees', investigations into the conditions these animals live in very much contradict the 5 animal needs being met.
“In the instance of these chickens, it is incredibly unlikely that the chickens will be able to exhibit their natural behaviour due to the space allotted per chicken. This will also increase the risk of injury and behavioural changes leading to self injury and of other chickens. There are many reasons this farm should not expand, but I think it is a disgrace that we allow animals to live in such poor conditions for financial gain.”
Lorraine Gibson, retired, who lives in West Winch said:
“I am concerned that a facility the size proposed with the concomitant increase in HGV movements will have a detrimental effect on the health, welfare and safety of local residents, both existing and future. For example, transport to and from the site will be along a narrow lane, accessed from a junction with the A10 that has been identified by Norfolk Highways Dept as being the highest frequency accident site in Norfolk. The overall impact on the local people and the environment can only be negative and the application should not be approved.”
Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF) is supporting local residents to stop the new factory farm sheds being built.
The factory farm food system is a leading cause of food insecurity, due to the inefficiency of growing or importing crops to feed to animals. The UK imports more than 3 million tonnes of soya a year, most of which comes from South America and has been directly shown to cause deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. [5] Professor Paul Behrens, British Academy Global Professor and expert in food system transformations, is calling for a “shift to healthy, plant-rich diets” to make our farming methods more resilient. [6]
Jo Lazarus, CAFF’s Campaign Coordinator, said:
“A Herefordshire-based company is trying to impose more intensive chicken sheds on this Norfolk village but local people are fighting back.
“It is deeply irresponsible for this factory farming company to try to add more intensive animal agriculture in Setchey when it is simply not needed. The current food system is cruel and unsustainable, and we should all be concerned that Big Chicken corporations are destroying the rainforest to produce more factory farmed meat."
ENDS
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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, +44 7895 780283
Notes to Editors
[3] https://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/we-thought-we-were-here-for-life-landlords-evict-tenants-9466919/
[5] https://www.sei.org/publications/soy-and-uk-food-system/
[6] https://www.nebriefing.org/expert-briefings/food-security