Locals Oppose New Factory Farm That Would House Over Three Million Birds A Year In Horncastle
5 June 2026
Residents are urging East Lindsey District Council to reject a planning application for a major new intensive broiler unit in Poolham, Horncastle.
If approved, the intensive poultry unit (IPU) would install 8 new sheds that would together confine some 400,000 chicks. [1]
Worried residents from Horsington, Edlington, Wispington and Thimbleby came together to talk to neighbours and deliver leaflets against the application.
Graham Sloan, a concerned Thimbleby resident, said:
“I object to this intensive farming application for many reasons. Environmental factors such as noise and air pollution or the vast increase of HGV movements related to this proposal are not conducive to our peaceful rural way of life, and intensive farming is inhumane as it can cause significant suffering to animals.
“This development does not take into consideration existing already approved agriculture related planning applications within a mile or so of our village. The accumulative effect is significant not just to me but to the local community, specifically our quaint, tranquil and historic village.”
Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF) is supporting residents to oppose the application.
Jo Lazarus, Campaign Coordinator at CAFF, said:
“Lincolnshire is already the UK’s factory farm capital and this mega intensive farm would further raise the county’s bird flu risk, as well as polluting the air and risking local waterways. Such a major proposal must be considered alongside the increasing concentration of intensive livestock developments in East Lindsey, including multiple factory farms already operating nearby.”
Intensive poultry units of this size remain avian flu hotspots in the UK with outbreaks at multiple Lincolnshire IPU sites over the last year. [2] Elsewhere in the UK, bird flu was found to have been transmitted to farm workers. [3]
Parts of the UK with the most large-scale intensive farms are ammonia air pollution hot spots, research has shown. Air pollution from manure spread on fields is worst in Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Herefordshire – which have the most large-scale intensive farms. [4]
ENDS
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About CAFF
Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF) works closely 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.
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Notes to Editors
[1] Planning Application: https://publicaccess.e-lindsey.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=TB0BU0GMK3M00
[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm208dr2yr3o