Residents in East Anglia are warning that their rivers would become as polluted as the River Wye – which has been branded “filthy” – if a farming giant goes ahead with plans for two of the largest megafarms in Europe.
Cranswick, which supplies meat to major supermarkets, wants to set up a pair of intensive farms that together would rear 6.4 million chickens and 56,000 pigs a year.
That is likely to make the scheme the biggest industrial facility of its kind in the UK.
But environmental and animal-rights organisations fiercely oppose the idea, and residents say the development would threaten the River Wissey, a key source for public water supplies and irrigation.
The River Wye has become a cause célèbre for waterways campaigners after pollution from farming started harming its wildlife.
Charles Watson, chairman of River Action said last year: “The Wye should be running clear - not that filthy sh*t colour,” after it appeared brown in a tweet promoting it to tourists.
In 2020, a thick algal bloom covered over 140 miles of it, and last year its official status was downgraded.
This year, the pollution was so bad that River Action took the Environment Agency to court, accusing it of not being tough enough on farmers.
The charity has campaigned to save the river from what it calls “the filthy onslaught” of chicken manure, which runs into waterways.
Cranswick’s plan involves expanding its site between Methwold and Feltwell in the Norfolk countryside, creating what locals have dubbed a monstrosity.
Each of the 20 new sheds would house nearly 50,000 chickens or 1,000 pigs at once.
Thousands of objections have already gone to the council from people who claim the smell, noise and flies will be “sickening” and extra lorries “will turn a simple journey for us into an absolute nightmare”.
The Cranswick Objection Group aims to raise £10,000 to fight the plan.
Co-founder Shirley De’Ath said the plans were already hitting the local property market. Estate agents had told some homeowners they would get less when selling their properties, while one recent buyer had put their home back on the market, she said, and another house price was unchanged from two years ago.
“It will blight people’s lives,” she said.
The Wissey, which experts say has an “internationally important chalk stream ecology” with water that is usually clear, was restored in 2018, and is a popular fishing spot. It’s now thought to be in good enough condition for fish such as burbot to return, according to Anglian Water.
Another campaigner, Patricia Welsh, said the farms would harm people’s health, and an independent environmental report had found the effects would be felt six miles away.
“We have been horrified to find out how much damage the air pollution, particularly ammonia, will cause the unique flora and fauna of Thetford forest and our chalk stream the River Wissey.
“Personally I am incensed that Cranswick think it’s fine to put these vile factory farms so close, not only to villages with three schools within a short distance, but also to Thetford forest with its Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Special Protection Areas.”
The site is close to the Breckland Special Area of Conservation, which is home to birds such as stone curlew.
A farming source said more and larger pig and chicken sheds were necessary because the UK was only 40-50 per cent self-sufficient in pork and 70 per cent in chicken.
The UK pig herd fell by 20 per cent in 2022 and 10 per cent last year, according to The National Pig Association.
In 2022, Cranswick was fined £75,000 after it discharged contaminated liquid from a pork processing site into a rare chalk stream, although the Environment Agency said it found no lasting harm. After the case, the company said it took steps to reduce the risk of any recurrence.
Ms De’Ath said since the farm expansion plans were unveiled, her family had cut their meat consumption by about half, and other objectors had reduced theirs too.
Manure, silage, carcasses and dirty water from industrial farming are known to cause environmental damage, according to government research. High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in chicken manure cause excessive algae, starving fish and plants of oxygen, according to the Soil Association.
And animal activists say crowded conditions contribute to disease and antibiotic resistance.
In April, The Independent revealed how a Cranswick worker hit pigs in the face with a paddle as they sent them into gas chambers. Cranswick did not respond to requests to comment on that incident.
A Cranswick spokesperson said: “The council have asked for further analysis before plans are resubmitted including a regulation 25 request to provide a detailed assessment of the key operations, from vehicle movements to the environmental measures linked to the redevelopment of the farm.
“This is being completed by specialist advisers and will be assessed by advisers appointed by the council. We will provide a full update once this process is complete, which will be at some point over the summer months”.
