OBJECTIONS to plans for a giant pig farm now stand at 38,000 – but the company behind the proposal says it is unfazed.
Local residents and campaigners from around the world have written to Derbyshire County Council to urge councillors to reject the scheme, which is planned for Foston.
Objections stood at 20,000 at the start of last year and there has been no let-up from animal rights groups during the time it is taking for the application to be decided.
The farm would house 2,500 sows, producing 1,000 pigs a week, so that there would be up to 25,000 animals on site.
Tracy Worcester, director of the "Farms not Factories" campaign group, said she hoped the sheer number of objections would lead to the plans being thrown out.
She said: "Opposition to the development by local residents is almost unanimous.
"They have not been persuaded that the development will not poison them with toxic emissions, pollute local waterways, increase the risk of flooding and disturb the amenity of the area with vastly-increased heavy vehicle traffic.
"Many objections from outside the area are based on the failures of factory farming – a system that relies on the routine use of antibiotics to keep the animals alive in the unhealthy, overcrowded and stressful conditions, and in which tail biting leads to illegal tail-docking is commonplace. Owners of factory farms always claim to have found ways round the systemic problems of cruel and unhealthy animal confinement but once the factory is built, where is the authority to close it?"
The company behind the application, Midland Pig Producers, said the hostility towards its plans was not as fierce as the number of objections suggests. A spokesman said: "Last week we held an open day in Scropton so that people could come talk to us and see the final plans for the farm.
"After widespread publicity for the event, we had just 36 people through the door, not all of whom were objecting to our proposals.
"We are aware that some activist groups have been asking their supporters, on a worldwide basis, to send in objections which they have clearly done, but it is doubtful that many of these people live in the area, or even in the UK."
Midlands Pig Producers first submitted proposals for a pig "super-farm" in 2009. The plans were rejected and, last year, the developers returned with a new application.
Derbyshire County Council has yet to make a decision as it is waiting for the Environment Agency to decide whether to give a permit for the £15-£20 million scheme to go ahead. The deadline for Midland Pig Producers to submit information for the permit was due to expire this month.
A date for the application to be determined is yet to be set, although it is expected to be before Easter.
Earlier this month, James Leavesley, chief executive of Midland Pig Producers, challenged claims about the size of the farm made by protesters, describing it as "large" and not an "American-style mega-farm".
He said the proposals had been drawn up to the "highest specifications", with animal welfare at the forefront of the design process.
Mr Leavesley also said there would not be a smell from the site as pig waste would be flushed away from the pens every 48 hours and there would be no "open slurry pits".
