‘Let Us Have a Say’: Locals Plead for Factory Farm Expansion to Be Stopped in North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire Council is under pressure to re-open consultation after a factory farm in Upper Dunsforth was granted approval to expand without local people’s knowledge.
The plans would build six more intensive chicken sheds at Ouseburn Farm, doubling the farm’s capacity and confining a total of 270,000 birds on the factory farm at any one time. [1]
At a residents’ meeting earlier this month, neighbours expressed disappointment that they had not been notified of the application.
Luke Crawford, a graphic and website designer from Great Ouseburn, said:
“We were disappointed that the first we heard in detail about this application was when CAFF came to our door last week, even though it has been in progress for over a year. This application has the potential to negatively affect the lives and health of residents of the village, not to mention obvious animal welfare issues relating to intensive farms.”
Alison Mummery, a teacher from Upper Dunsforth, said:
"We should be concentrating on improving animal welfare rather than executing plans to cram more birds into even bigger factory farms. I stood and watched the abject cruelty as one of the existing sheds roared like a bonfire... but not one bird was released. A plume of black smoke rising to the clouds - no doubt distributing noxious substances over wildlife and residents."
At a planning meeting in March 2026, North Yorkshire Council granted planning permission for the expansion from 135,000 to 270,000 ‘broiler’ chickens. [2] Yet, the application is still awaiting full approval on the planning portal.
Several Upper Dunsforth residents have since raised concerns that they were not given enough notice to consider the proposals and submit objections.
Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF) is supporting the local community and has sent a comprehensive objection letter detailing legal faults within the application. [3] In it, CAFF notes that the application does not properly assess the climate and animal welfare impacts of the proposed extension.
Ouseburn Farm uses fast-growing breeds (‘Frankenchickens’) who suffer under the weight of their own bodies, as they grow to an unnatural size.
Dozens of objections have been submitted in the past few weeks, as pressure has risen on the council to re-consider. Great Ouseburn Parish Council also submitted an objection earlier in the process.
Maya Pardo, Legal Coordinator at CAFF, said:
“It would be right for North Yorkshire Council to invite proper consultation from the local community, given that neighbours to this factory farm were not aware of the expansion plans. There are serious environmental risks with this proposal that have not yet been addressed. Given the accumulation of intensive chicken farms in North Yorkshire, it is essential that the council strive to limit these harms.”
ENDS
Word count: 468
About CAFF
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.
For more information or further comments, please contact:
Daniel, press@caff.org.uk
[1] https://publicaccess.northyorks.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=SL3GW2HYHQ100
[3] https://static1.squarespace.com/static/682cad4152f5f9059c0c2728/t/6a577ca5e16709381c8ba114/1784118437619/CAFF+Objection_Ouseburn+Farm_Final+June+2026+%282%29.pdf