Meat Giant Starts Factory Farm Construction In Norfolk Without Planning Permission

Hook 2 Sisters has demolished buildings and started constructing new poultry units in Breckles, Great Hockham, Norfolk.

• This major development would house at least 434,000 birds, making it one of the largest intensive poultry installations in Norfolk[1].

• Breckland Council has served a Temporary Stop Notice so that it can investigate the plans[2].

A meat industry giant has demolished factory farm buildings and started the construction of multiple new poultry units. The new development would house over 430,000 birds, more than four times higher than the previous turkey unit, which used to house around 106,000 birds and some of which has now been demolished. Hook 2 Sisters, owned by Boparan and a supplier of major supermarket chains including Waitrose, Tesco and Aldi, has started building the new poultry units on the site at Brookside Farm, risking a major increase in ammonia emissions, which could severely harm the Norfolk Valley Fens Special Area of Conservation (SAC) site, a rare and protected wetland.

Residents report seeing demolition works starting mid-March through mid-May, at times seeing 30 foot bonfires. They report that building works began in early July for the new sheds, which are larger than the previous ones, and that Breckland council have been slow to act. There has been no application for planning permission, and residents report there were no site notices.

Maya Pardo, Legal Strategy Coordinator at the Coalition Against Factory Farming, said:

 “Given the scale of the new proposal (434,000 broilers), this development could become one of the largest sources of ammonia and particulate matter pollution in Norfolk. 

“We are concerned about the impacts of air pollution and odours on residents, as well as the potential for significant environmental damage to this sensitive wildlife area. To protect local communities and Norfolk’s European protected habitats, a robust public consultation via the planning process is crucial, both to ensure that local residents can have their say about the proposal, and so that decision makers can review the required environmental impact assessments.”

By failing to apply for planning permission, the developer has not given Breckland Council and Natural England the chance to assess the impacts of quadrupling the number of birds housed at the facility.

Hook 2 Sisters has instead applied only for a variation of permit, with the Environment Agency’s consultation open until 28 August. Typically, major factory farm developments require both an Environment Agency permit and planning permission. CAFF has queried whether it was appropriate for Hook 2 Sisters to apply for a variation of permit rather than a new permit entirely.

The tactic to demolish factory farm buildings and begin construction of new units without proper planning permission mirrors the approach taken by meat giant and Sainsbury’s and Tesco supplier Cranswick at nearby Cherry Tree Farm in Stow Bedon, where Cranswick is applying for retrospective planning permission. Residents have raised concerns that using this “variation” tactic undermines the safeguards of the planning system.

Brookside Farm has previously benefited from exploiting the planning system in this manner, completing prior building work across 2019/2020 before applying for retrospective planning permission[3].

John Nuttridge, a local resident, commented on the spread of factory farms in the area:

 “One mile to the north of me 7,000 pigs are crammed into tin sheds. At the northern end of my property I hear their desperate screams, and back at the house I smell the noxious gases from the sheds. I see no life in a once healthy chalk stream that runs past the sheds and is our eastern boundary. I see an unusual number of trees suffering and dying prematurely. I listen to the health issues and loss of enjoyment of those living closer to the sheds. These issues are not NIMBY responses - they are a real consequence of factory farming. 

“Now there are plans to cram 434,000 chickens into sheds to suffer and further pollute our neighborhood for corporate profit. I strongly object to the granting of a permit to Brookside Farm so as not to allow them to inflict unnecessary cruelty on 434,000 chickens, and to stop factory farming from negatively affecting the biodiversity of our local environment and the health of the local population.”

ENDS

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Notes To Editors

[1] https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/psc/nr17-1er-hook-2-sisters-limited/

[2]https://publicportal.breckland.gov.uk/planning/index.html?fa=getApplication&id=193260 (see application form, page 3, section 5 and ‘Supporting/Supplementary Information/Documents’, which states that planning permission was retrospective)