Extraordinary Meeting 31st January 2022
Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting held on the 31st January 2022
Present: Cllrs. B. Hancock, A. Inglis, M. Burton, H. Davidson, T. Schofield and P. Drewery.
Apologies: Cllr. J. Young. Members of the public: 22
The Chairman Cllr Hancock invited members of the public to the meeting outlining the form the meeting would take.
As a presentation had been prepared by Janet Bowen and Lisa Pearce this became the first item.
From this the public were invited to speak.
Issues of Concern raised were as follows.
Considerable environmental impact in an area that is a recognised amenity area regularly frequented by Cyclists, Horse Riders and walkers. This pertains to the strong and noxious odours associated with slurry spreading and disposal and windblown odours from the piggery units themselves.
Concerns were also raised about effluent seeping into the local watercourses, it was alleged that this has happened at the Brandy Wharf site, and the sustainability and advisability of repeatedly spreading slurry onto local fields was also questioned.
Increased traffic, particularly large livestock transporters and feed lorries on roads through the village and tracks that are not in a suitable state of repair, where pedestrians are already at risk due to lack of pavements and the access track used jointly by Beasthorpe Farm and Beasthorpe House that has insufficient passing space for two vehicles. Particular concerns were raised to children utilising the school buses.
The lack of detailed proposals within the planning application regarding the type of pigs to be housed at the unit has also caused speculation and concern, although there is referent to approximately 2000 ‘finishers’ imbedded in the impact survey. This has also fuelled speculation and concern that there may be future developments and expansion on site as there has been at the Brandy Wharf site.
Whilst it is accepted that this is a predominately farming area there were concerns raised that this increasingly ‘industrial’ and large scale mode of animal production will have a negative impact on buildings of historical interest and other business in this and surrounding parishes and also have a detrimental effect on residential property sales and prices.
There were no objections from the owners of Thornton Manor Farm
The public meeting closed at 8.30pm
The Parish Council then continued the meeting to consolidate the comments and to formulate their reply to the planning committee.
It should be noted that this was a retrospective application and work had already been carried out.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm