The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has voiced concern that an agenda is being set by people with no interest in NI economy or the agri-food sector over a proposed pig farm in Co Antrim.

Plans have been submitted to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council for houses to hold 30,000 pigs, an anaerobic digester, a feed mill and slurry lagoon on a 14ha site. But the plans have been met with significant opposition, including celebrities such as Brian May, Martin Shaw and Jenny Seagrove. One online petition has gathered over 200,000 signatures to date. On enquiry, the council confirmed that it has also received 771 letters of objection.

Responding to the intervention of celebrities and campaign groups in the debate, the UFU has said that science and local legislation should guide the planning decision and that celebrity views from overseas should not take precedence over the views of local people.

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According to the UFU, a campaign is being orchestrated against the development, simply because of its scale. However, with demand for food set to grow, creating opportunities for farmers and food processors, they maintain that policymakers here cannot ignore the reality that scale, efficiency and high animal welfare standards can go hand in hand.

“The recent Agri-Food Strategy report said that pig production in NI needed to increase by 40%. That has to come from expanding existing units, making this an issue that is about the future of the entire industry and not a single pig farm,” said UFU deputy president Ivor Ferguson.

On the issue of animal welfare, Ferguson said: “If livestock are not happy in their environment they will not thrive, and that applies whether they are in units with tens or thousands of pigs. That is the key reassurance.”

However, he acknowledged that local people have concerns over issues such as smells, traffic, noise and environmental pollution. “These are all justifiable concerns and it is right that these and other issues are addressed as part of the planning process – as would be the case with any other business,” he said.

A decision by the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) to vote with the Labour Party against relaxation of fox hunting laws in England and Wales on Wednesday has seen the vote postponed.

The proposed change by the Conservatives to the Hunting Act 2004 would allow an unlimited number of dogs to be used to “flush out” a fox to be shot. Currently, only two dogs can be used.

Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK where using dogs to kill foxes is still legal. It was banned in Scotland in 2002 and in England and Wales in 2005.

Green Party MLA Brian Wilson put forward a bill to the Assembly in 2010 to extend the ban on hunting to Northern Ireland, but it was opposed by almost every other political party.

It was defeated because most MLAs thought that the bill was either out of touch with rural communities or it would be difficult to police.