Call for inquiry into beagle farm plans

A planning inspector in Bristol will hear an appeal by Yorkshire Evergreen for the site in Grimston in Holderness, which led to tens of thousands of objections last year.

The inspector has indicated it can be dealt with by written representations rather than a public hearing.

But resident Cindy de Vries, who acts as spokeswoman for villagers in Grimston, said: “It has created such a huge outcry it needs to go to an inquiry. We need a voice. We don’t believe the traffic will be any less and the argument about the impact of the building on the grade one historic wall needs to be fully explored.”

Animal rights group the BUAV has also written to the inspector saying it would be “wholly inappropriate” and in breach of the inspectorate’s own guidance.

A spokeswoman said: “The appeal raises complex issues of science and law and local feeling against the development runs high. Local residents should be given an opportunity of articulating their concerns and the plans must be subjected to close examination, which only an inquiry could do.”

The current proposals are for a single building and with no outdoor runs for the beagles, the developer says it will “make for a quieter life for residents” and claims there will be less movements to and from the site after it is completed.

Yorkshire Evergreen has also highlighted the fact that councillors went against their own planning officers’ advice when they rejected the latest proposals last November.

They said the council failed to take into account that the current plans would be far smaller in scale, adding: “The council’s decision is against all the professional advice of its planning and conservation officers and has no foundation.”