Country smells are all part of rural living and are an unavoidable by-product of many types of farming. That point was made in one case, in which the High Court upheld planning permission for an intensive chicken farm despite local residents’ concerns that their lives would be blighted by the pervading scent of manure.
The farm was planned to consist of four large chicken sheds and would be capable of producing over 1.5 million standard broiler chickens annually. It was expected to generate more than 2,300 tonnes of manure every year, to be spread as fertiliser on the developer’s own fields and other farmland over a wider area.
After the local authority granted planning consent for the project, an objector who lived close to the proposed farm launched a judicial review challenge. Although an environmental impact assessment had been carried out, it was said to have focused on odorous emissions from the sheds’ chimneys and fan extraction system. Muck spreading on the developers’ land had been considered, but the impact of such spreading further afield was said to have been ignored.
In defending its decision, however, the council pointed out that muck spreading is normal agricultural practice. Manure would only be moved from the farm in sheeted lorries and, if swiftly ploughed into arable fields, the odour it generated would be short-lived and localised. Any stockpiled manure might be smelly for a while, but only until an oxidised crust had formed on deposits.
In dismissing the objector’s challenge, the Court found that the council had properly assessed both the direct and indirect environmental effects of the project. Local parish councils had been consulted and muck spreading on land away from the farm would be effectively controlled by the terms of an Environment Agency permit. The developer had also entered into a binding agreement with the council that was designed to minimise the odour impact of the farm’s operation.