Staffordshire residents object to the huge expansion of a pig farm - here's what they think
Staffordshire locals express opposition to pig farm expansion.
At a village meeting in Hill Ridware Village Hall in the Rugeley area, residents expressed their strong opposition over plans to expand a factory farm to hold 4,750 pigs.
If plans for Woodhouse Farm expansion are approved then three more sheds that could accommodate an extra 2,850 pigs at a time are set to get built, according to Communities Against Factory Farming.
Woodhouse Farm is run by the farming business W B Daw & Son.
Intensive farming for pigs is defined as having more than 2,000 pigs on a single site.
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Residents attended a public meeting last week (Thursday, June 11), with those present voicing concerns about the spread of intensive farming, the waste generated and the impacts of smells on local communities.
Heulwen Barnett, 72, retired, from Blithbury, said: “As a resident of Blithbury for 30 years, I am aware of a significant increase in frequency of large stock and feed lorries and farm machinery passing my home, the smell of manure spreading and the screams of the captive pigs. The proposal to extend this enterprise by 3 more huge pig sheds, sited just metres from a public footpath, accessed along an already busy potholed single track lane, would greatly diminish the enjoyment of the local area. Surely intensive factory farming isn't the best or kindest use of our limited resources.”
Elizabeth Mason, 52, from Blithbury, said: “We are residents local to the proposed expansion of the pig farm. Access is through our village along a narrow lane that is not fit for purpose and already in a severe state of disrepair. We rear small batches of free range meat pigs and so are sensitive to the fact that housing large numbers inside, on concrete, inhibits their natural behaviours. In the current numbers, the sounds the animals make are already very distressing.”
Lazarus, Campaign Coordinator at Communities Against Factory Farming, said:“Local residents don’t want to endure the distress of hearing screaming pigs in their daily lives, and are rightly concerned about the water and air pollution that intensive pig farming causes.
“Expanding this factory pig farm would trap thousands more intelligent animals into highly stressful crowded conditions. On intensive pig farms, tail biting and cannibalism become routine because the pigs are so frightened and stressed. There is nothing humane about factory farming.”
We have reached out to W B Daw & Son for comment about the farm’s expansion and are awaiting comment.
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