Plans were originally submitted to the council in March 2015 by local farmer Derek Hall for a larger 30,000 pig unit.
ADVERTISEMENT
Approval was given at a meeting of Antrim and Newtonabbey council’s planning committee on Tuesday evening with nine councillors voting for and two voting against the development.
Plans were originally submitted to the council in March 2015 by local farmer Derek Hall for a larger 30,000 pig unit, but this was changed in January this year.
The development has been subject to criticism from animal welfare campaigners. A spokesperson for Antrim and Newtonabbey council confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal this week that 896 formal objections were received, as well as over 250,000 emails from online petition websites.
ADVERTISEMENT
Several high-profile animal welfare campaigners also became involved in opposition to the plans, including Brian May, Martin Shaw and Jenny Seagrove. Last July, the Ulster Farmers’ Union got involved commenting that science and local legislation should guide the planning decisions and not the views of celebrities from overseas.
Derek Hall has previously stated that the plans go above welfare standards with weaner pigs due to have 25.7% more space per pig and finisher pigs 17% more space per pig than DAERA requirements.
The plans include four pig houses with air scrubber units to reduce odour, an anaerobic digester, two digestate tanks, a silo clamp and slurry tanks. It is understood that sows and pigs will be housed on the new unit until weanling with pigs then moved to renovated housing on the existing pig farm nearby for finishing.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe to get unlimited access.
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to the site until next Wednesday at 9pm.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact support.
Approval was given at a meeting of Antrim and Newtonabbey council’s planning committee on Tuesday evening with nine councillors voting for and two voting against the development.
Plans were originally submitted to the council in March 2015 by local farmer Derek Hall for a larger 30,000 pig unit, but this was changed in January this year.
The development has been subject to criticism from animal welfare campaigners. A spokesperson for Antrim and Newtonabbey council confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal this week that 896 formal objections were received, as well as over 250,000 emails from online petition websites.
Several high-profile animal welfare campaigners also became involved in opposition to the plans, including Brian May, Martin Shaw and Jenny Seagrove. Last July, the Ulster Farmers’ Union got involved commenting that science and local legislation should guide the planning decisions and not the views of celebrities from overseas.
Derek Hall has previously stated that the plans go above welfare standards with weaner pigs due to have 25.7% more space per pig and finisher pigs 17% more space per pig than DAERA requirements.
The plans include four pig houses with air scrubber units to reduce odour, an anaerobic digester, two digestate tanks, a silo clamp and slurry tanks. It is understood that sows and pigs will be housed on the new unit until weanling with pigs then moved to renovated housing on the existing pig farm nearby for finishing.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address. Please click on the link in this email to reset your password. If you can't find it in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you can't find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
ENTER YOUR LOYALTY CODE:
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
SHARING OPTIONS