Nocton: Super-dairy plans resubmitted

Britain’s first super-dairy could be up and running within a year after plans were finally resubmitted to milk thousands of cows on a single farm in Lincolnshire.

Nocton Dairies, the company behind the £34m project, said milking could start next autumn if it wins permission for the 3770-cow farm. A planning application was resubmitted to North Kesteven District Council on Thursday (18 November).

As revealed last week by Farmers Weekly, the resubmitted application is for fewer than half the 8100 cows originally proposed for Nocton Heath, south of Lincoln. But protestors have vowed to continue their campaign against the development.

Welfare

In a bid to appease local residents and animal welfare campaigners, the revised plan includes further environmental measures and 5% more “loose stall” beds than there are cows, which will now have access to outdoors.

Nocton Dairies director and Devon farmer Peter Willes said: “Cows need to live long lives and be healthy to deliver the best results for the farm, so it really is in our best interests to ensure cows are physically and mentally at their peak.”

Describing the proposal as “traditional mixed farming on a modern scale”, Mr Willes said large-scale dairies were vital to produce milk cheaply and help stem the rising tide of milk imports which was driving British farmers to the wall.

There were further benefits too, said Mr Willes’ business partner, Lancashire farmer David Barnes. Embracing the latest technology meant Nocton milk was expected to have a carbon footprint one-third smaller than the European average.

Nocton will create 60 full-time jobs in an area where rural employment can be hard to come by. Some 5000 factsheets explaining the plan will now be sent to local villagers. Open meetings will be held in the six nearest villages over the next four weeks.

But two of the UK’s largest animal welfare charities – and local campaigners – said they remained vehemently opposed to development, which they warned was a “watershed moment” in British farming.

Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) have joined forces with the local Campaign Against Factory Farming Operations (CAFFO) to fight the planning application.

Rather than a little local difficulty, the three groups argue that Nocton is an issue of national importance with potential consequences for animal welfare, consumer choice, community development and environmental sustainability.

CIWF chief executive Philip Lymbery said the proposed development threatened to undermine the integrity of British milk. “Cows belong in fields, not in mega-dairies,” he said – a view echoed by local CAFFO campaigner Deborah Wilson.

She said: “If the local council gives permission to this appalling proposal, they will be trampling on the people who elected them to office in preference to the business ambitions of two farmers who live many miles away from the region.”

Once validated by North Kesteven District Council, the planning application will undergo a 13-14 week consultation before the outcome is determined.