Victory! U.K. Town Strikes Down Proposed Factory Farm

The United Kingdom's East Devon district is one of the most scenic places on earth. Part of the region is recognized as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) — the equivalent of a National Park — and the district is home to an impressive array of nature reserves, beaches, and historic sites. It's pretty much the least appropriate place to plop a factory farm (not that there are any appropriate spots to build this type of ag operation).

Change.org members and community activists agreed that East Devon's Venn Ottery area is no place for a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). More than 300 Change.org members petitioned East Devon District Council members and asked them to vote against a proposed, industrial-scale pig farm. Our members echoed the calls from local activists like the Venn Ottery Action Group, who didn't want to see their picturesque community marred by a polluting, smelly factory farm. All the ruckus-raising paid off: Change.org recently heard from Nick Stephen, the East Devon District Council's Communications Officer, who told us that "the Council has now decided to refuse this application."

Chris Down, owner of Crealy Farms, first applied to build his pig farm back in September of 2010. The proposed factory farm would hold more than 3,400 pigs, boasting a few buildings as well as a manure lagoon. The factory farm's potential noise, odor, increased traffic, and pollution were especially onerous to the local community, who worried that the pig farm would threaten the status of this protected, pristine region.

"The statutory purpose of AONBs is to enhance the natural beauty of the landscape," Olly Foat, a Venn Ottery resident, told This is Exeter. "We feel this will not be the case with this application. If approved, this huge complex of over 11 acres of buildings and support structures will open the gates for rafts of other developments in other AONB sites."

Foat's and other activists' concerns were certainly valid — factory farms wreak havoc on their surrounding communities. The excessive amount of animal waste not only smells terrible, it frequently washes into nearby waterways during storms, polluting water supplies and poisoning aquatic life. Factory farms also tend to strain the local water supply, increase the amount of road traffic, and decrease the quality of life for those living nearby. A recent study from the University of Missouri found that property sited within three miles of a CAFO loses 6.6 percent of its value, while land within one-tenth of a mile becomes practically worthless, losing a whopping 88.3 percent of its worth. And of course there are the usual animal welfare concerns that all factory farms bring with them.

The Venn Ottery victory certainly pitted David against Goliath, but there's no reason this same kind of win can't be achieved in other communities. As Food & Water Watch's Factory Farm Map shows, there are plenty of proposed and existing unwanted CAFOs in towns throughout America. Let's take these Big Ag bullies to task: Start a petition on Change.org to fight a proposed factory farm near your town, or sign some of our petitions to help combat CAFOs in other communities.

Photo credit: CALM Action via Flickr