Sir David Davis MP Adds Voice to Growing Backlash Against New Factory Farm Planned near Goole
Over 50 local residents attended a public meeting against an intensive poultry unit (IPU) that would confine 111,000 birds in three sheds in Laxton, East Riding of Yorkshire. [1]
Residents raised concerns about road safety, water pollution, biodiversity and noise, among other planning considerations, at the meeting in Laxton Victory Hall.
Sir David Davis, MP for Goole and Pocklington, has written to the planning officer raising concerns about the application, to which three local parish councils and around one hundred residents have so far submitted objections.
Lisa Townsley, 53, a Business Administrator from Metham, who was at the meeting, said:
“This proposal is not simply three agricultural sheds; it is an intensive industrial-scale operation involving more than 100,000 chickens at any one time, hundreds of thousands of birds each year, large articulated lorries, feed deliveries, bird collections, ventilation equipment and continual activity.
“I am deeply uncomfortable about the animal welfare of this proposal. These are living creatures, not simply production figures. The applicant's own documents anticipate day-old chicks growing to an average target slaughter weight of around 2.55 kg in only 38 days, before being caught, loaded into HGVs and transported for slaughter. I believe the welfare implications of keeping and transporting animals on this scale deserve proper public consideration.”
The intensive poultry sheds would use fast-growing breeds (commonly known as ‘Frankenchickens’) who are associated with severe animal welfare issues. Research has shown that by growing so unnaturally fast, Frankenchickens commonly cannot walk because they are unable to support their own weight. [2]
Residents raised fears about road safety if the proposal were approved.
Deborah Gilday, a 55 year-old Integration Architect from Laxton, who also attended the meeting, said:
“This proposal would increase HGV traffic on narrow rural lanes that form part of National Cycle Network Route 65. These roads are regularly used by individual cyclists and organised cycling groups, and my overriding concern is safety. Regular HGV traffic on narrow roads shared with vulnerable road users creates a very real and potentially serious risk of an accident.”
Three local parish councils have so far objected to the application. Laxton Parish Council, Gilberdyke Parish Council and Kilpin Parish Council have all lodged formal objections, while Hook Parish Council and Goole Town Council have expressed pollution concerns and requested that no decision be made before they have been consulted. [3]
Sir David Davis MP has written to the Planning Officer expressing concerns about increased traffic, air pollution and zoonotic disease risks.
Tim Watson, a Laxton Parish Councillor, said:
“The proposed farm would provide zero economic - or indeed any - benefit to the local area, but would instead put further extreme pressure on an already failing road network and put the sensitive ecosystem of the Humber Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest at great and unnecessary risk.
“It would be a further example of private money coming before the natural environment and local residents’ welfare. We urge the planners to fulfil their duty of care to the people, infrastructure and biodiversity in this beautiful area.”
A resident from Hook who attended the meeting said:
“There is no shortage of cheap chicken in supermarkets or butchers anywhere in Britain. For the business to gain the profit from putting even more chicken meat into the market all the local community gains is the disadvantage of having to put up with the intense smell of manure, fly infestation, avian and airborne disease, dangerous ammonia release, increased lorry movement on ill-maintained single track roads and the very real prospect of pollution of the drains, ditches and river including the protected areas where birds feed and breed by way of the chicken manure to be continuously spread on the low-lying fields that will leach or flood into the water.”
Communities Against Factory Farming (CAFF) hosted the meeting and is supporting local residents. [4]
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 more information or further comments, please contact:
Daniel (Press Back Office), press@caff.org.uk
Notes to Editors