Plan for farm with up to 1,000 pigs leaves residents of Yorkshire village up in arms

Residents in a South Yorkshire village have once again rallied against plans for a pig farm with 1,000 animals and say the ‘intolerable’ development will have a ‘devastating effect’ on people.
Up to 1,000 pigs could be housed at the farm in a village near Doncaster. Credit: Gary LongbottomUp to 1,000 pigs could be housed at the farm in a village near Doncaster. Credit: Gary Longbottom
Up to 1,000 pigs could be housed at the farm in a village near Doncaster. Credit: Gary Longbottom

An amended application for a large pig rearing site on land at Burghwallis Park, off The Abbes Walk in Burghwallis, near Doncaster will be considered by planning officers again after being rejected back in September last year.

If the council’s planning team recommended approval, the application is likely to be considered by councillors at a future meeting.

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The applicant, Anthony Scholey of Lodge Farm, Frickley, wants to build a structure to house the pigs and applied for permission to use the land for rear until they reach weight for transport for slaughter.

But dozens of Burghwallis residents have rallied again to a bid to oppose the application. An 87-signature petition has been sent to council planning officers.

Lead petitioner Andrew Wood said "95 per cent" of Burghwallis homes opposed the original application with "no one" supporting it.

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Owston Parish Council has also sent a letter of objection to DMBC planning officers outlining a number of reasons why they feel the application should be thrown out again.

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Parish council clerk Christine Harvey said: “The proposal to site an industrial scale pig farm so close to so many residential properties is inappropriate, and would have a long lasting and devastating effect on the daily lives of so many residents who live in Burghwallis. The odour, fly nuisance and noise level emanating from the site would be intolerable.

“For the same reasons, the nearby amenities of Squirrel Wood Camp and Owston golf course would be adversely affected.

“The proposal is close to conservation areas as well as other local villages such as Skellow and Carcroft, which would be affected by noise levels, slurry smells and flies depending on wind direction and other weather conditions, particularly the heat of summer months.

“The strength of the multitude of objections to the planning application last time should be sufficient evidence to reject this proposal once and for all.”

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Anthony Atkinson of Acorus Rural Property Services, who represents the applicant, said a noise and vehicle access survey have been sent in following the refusal of the previous application.

“The noise survey and the access survey have been prepared following the refusal of the previous application, to address the comments as detailed in the delegated report for that application,” he said.

“With the above documents supplied with the planning application it is considered that all identified issues have been addressed and therefore it is considered that the application should be approved.”

An update on the application is likely to be made in the next few months.