Farm rearing pigs for Waitrose set for Norwich outskirts

Under the proposals submitted by David Murrell, of D & C Murrell, the site will be built on a patch of land in Norwich Road in Little Plumstead.

Up to 2,000 weaner pigs will be reared on the farm before being sold as meat to Waitrose and BQP.

Around 2,000 pigs could be kept at the facility (Image: Canva) It will be D & C Murrell’s second pig farm in the area.

But people living nearby have raised concerns about the smell and increase in traffic the new site will generate.

One Norwich Road local said: "The smell from the one nearby can be pretty terrible.

"Every few weeks or so you can smell it in the surrounding villages.

"You also get quite a few heavier vehicles coming down here because of the farm already there - any more wouldn't be ideal."

This will be the second pig-rearing facility of its kind in Norwich Road (Image: Newsquest) Ryan Wright, who lives in Little Plumstead, agreed that the road is "awful".

He said: "We already get a lot of tractors and lorries, sometimes late at night.

"The road is awful - our cat was run over the other day.

"You do get used to all the traffic, though."

Terry Grimes, 72 (Image: Newsquest) However, retiree Terry Grimes, 72, said: "I'm not concerned, but I don't live directly next to it.

"We all need food, so it has got to go somewhere.

READ MORE: Business faced 'serious impact' after council planning approval delays

"Yes, I might get the smell sometimes, but I'm not too worried about it."

Cllr Eleanor Laming (Image: Eleanor Laming) Councillor for the Brundall ward, Eleanor Laming, has supported the plans, saying: "The location was felt to be appropriate, being over 400m from any other residential properties and screened from the road.

"There is likely to be some traffic increase, but it will not be significant enough to seriously impact the highway."

Broadland District Council has approved plans for the pig farm and for a three-bed house to be built on the land.

HOW CAN THE PIG FARM GO AHEAD?

The approval of the farm comes just one year after another pig farmer in Caistor St Edmund was paid just shy of £1m to stop.

Phil Courtier, director of place at Broadland and South Norfolk Councils, explained that this is a very different situation.

Phil Courtier is director of place for Broadland and South Norfolk Councils (Image: Simon Finlay Photography) He said: "The first difference is the location of the two sites. The Markshall Farm site is on sloping land, located between two rivers – the Tas and the Yare.

"Therefore, all the nutrients generated by the pigs on this land ended up polluting the rivers and then the Broads.

"Ceasing the keeping of pigs on this site has a significant and immediate impact which has allowed more than 1000 homes to be built as a result.

"The second difference is the nature of the pig ‘keeping’ – Markshall Farm is open pig rearing with no control over the amount of pig ‘manure’ flowing into the rivers when it rains.

"The proposals for Mr Murrell are for pig buildings with a greater degree of control over the waste."