Council advised they are breaking the law by not considering climate impacts of factory farm

Sustain has issued an urgent call alongside campaigning group Feedback to the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk to reject plans for a large intensive livestock facility in rural Norfolk on the grounds that it would jeopardise local and national climate change commitments.  

Feedback and Sustain also warned the Council that it is breaking the law by inexplicably leaving greenhouse gas emissions out of the scope of the planning application produced by the developer of the site, industrial meat producer Cranswick Plc.   

Greenhouse gas emissions from the proposed facility – which could produce up to 6 million chickens and 56,000 pigs a year in Methwold, Norfolk – are expected to be substantial.  

In the wake of a Supreme Court’s judgement earlier this year – the Finch ruling - Feedback and Sustain’s legal advisers have indicated that the direct and indirect climate impacts of industrial livestock units must be considered by Councils when deciding on factory farm planning applications. Methwold is widely seen as a test case for similar planning applications by industrial livestock producers in other parts of the UK.  

Cranswick Plc is one of the UK’s largest producers of pigs and chickens and has been the subject of complaints and enforcement action regarding significant ammonia emissions and river pollution. It reported revenues of £2.3 billion for the year ending in March 2024 and supplies both the UK and export markets, including China.   

There is significant local resistance to the extension of the Methwold factory farm: to date, the Council has received an unprecedented 10,000 letters objecting to the proposal.    

If King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council decides to grant planning permission, it would be in contravention of its climate strategy: the Council declared a climate emergency in 2021, and its climate strategy contains targets to reduce the Council’s own emissions as well as the wider emissions from local industry, transport, and domestic homes ‘as and when opportunities arise’.   

The UK Government’s net zero commitment is enshrined in law, and national planning policy for England includes an objective to move to a low-carbon economy. Planning applications that support industries that have high greenhouse gas emissions threaten the delivery of both policies. To meet national climate change targets, the Committee on Climate Change recommends a 20-50% reduction in meat consumption by 2050.  

Natasha Hurley, Director of Campaigns at Feedback said

“Expanding emissions-intensive factory farming as the climate crisis intensifies is madness. This megafarm must be stopped, and we believe the law is on our side. We urge West Norfolk Borough Council in the  strongest possible terms to reject this planning application.”  

Ruth Westcott, Campaign Manager at Sustain said

“Industrial megafarms like this are completely unnecessary. As well as the unacceptable impact on the climate, family farmers say these kind of supply chains impose prices, trading terms, and insecurity that they can’t survive. Sustainable farming is the real path to creating good jobs, local food security and decent returns for farmers.”  

King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council will shortly be conducting a public consultation following the submission of an updated environmental statement (and associated documents) by Cranswick on 31st October. This will be followed by a review, with the Council expected to issue a decision on the planning application in early 2025.  

The government is currently undertaking a review of the National Planning Policy Framework. Sustain and Feedback have both called for climate change to be made a material planning consideration for industrial livestock units in submissions to the government. They are also calling for a national presumption against new and expanded intensive livestock units in polluted catchments.   

More information about how the Finch case is relevant to intensive livestock units is in our blog.