Controversial plans for a mega-dairy in Powys are being contested after Councillors recently conditionally approved an application for a 1000-cow unit, despite a recommendation from their own planning officials to reject the proposal.

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Powys planners had advised that the mega-dairy “fundamentally conflicts” with at least nine policies of the Powys Unitary Development Plan. The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) Not in my Cuppa campaigners and farm animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming have written to the Welsh Assembly, asking them to call in the application and overturn the decision.

The two charities are supporting the local villagers most affected by the proposed industrial 1000-cow unit, who have formed the Campaign Against Leighton Farm Expansion (CALFe). The villagers’ principal concern is the proposed location of the expansion, right next door to the village primary school. The Soil Association and Campaign for Real farming have both publicly supported the campaign.

CALFe campaigner and local resident, Holly Dyer, said, “This really was an incomprehensible decision by the planning committee since every piece of advice presented at the planning meeting recommended that the proposal be rejected. A super dairy of this size and scale placed in a small village is unprecedented in the UK and it is clear that it will have a catastrophic effect on the landscape, environment and the local community. We are bewildered as to why the committee have chosen to ignore the advice of the experts and pass the proposal.”

Addressing members of the Welsh Assembly and MPs at an event in Cardiff, WSPA Chief Executive Mike Baker said “It concerns us that just six councillors could in effect make such a decision; the ripples caused by this will go far beyond Welshpool. If developers feel they can build a mega dairy in rural Wales, which has some of the best pasture in Britain, then this is a worrying precedent to set.”

Compassion’s Director of Public Affairs Joyce D’Silva commented, “Dairy farming is at a crossroads. Going down the industrial farming route is likely to ruin the countryside, wreck the livelihoods of existing farmers and cause misery to thousands of cows. We urge farmers and retailers to support pasture-based farming, which benefits both countryside and cows and offers the more ethical product which consumers prefer.”

The development has also received stiff opposition from a number of other interest groups, including the Countryside Council for Wales, the historic monuments agency Cadw, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW), the National Trust and Powys Teaching Health Board, who are concerned about the air quality of the farm and its proximity to Leighton primary school.

CALFe and CPRW have also written to the Welsh Assembly asking for the planning application to be called in

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