Methwold 'megafarm' refused over concerns for the environment
Cranswick says it could hold 714,000 chickens and 14,000 pigs
A so-called "US-style megafarm" that could house around 714,000 chickens and 14,000 pigs has been refused planning permission amid environmental concerns.
The proposed scheme near Methwold in Norfolk had been recommended for refusal by council planning officers who cited the "significant effects of the project on the environment".
In their recommendation to refuse planning permission, officers said the applicants had not provided enough information to demonstrate there would not be "significant adverse effects".
They also raised concerns about the proximity to "a number of European protected sites".
Livestock producer Cranswick, which brought the application, said the scheme would help with UK food security.
The firm argued it would improve productivity by redeveloping farms that already exist, and that the site was designed to support animal welfare.
A meeting of the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk's planning committee was told there had been some 15,000 objections to the scheme.
Two planning applications, for the pig and poultry sides of the scheme and submitted alongside each other to enable a collective assessment, were considered by councillors on Thursday.
Councillor Pallavi Devulapalli said during a debate on the scheme that the site was "two times larger than the largest poultry farm in the area".
She said "we really can't afford any more loss to our biodiversity", adding: "We can't carry on trashing the air, our water supplies and soil and leave nothing for our future generations."
Nine planning councillors voted unanimously to refuse the two planning applications, one after the other.
Jake White, head of legal advocacy for WWF UK, earlier described the proposed scheme to the meeting as a "US-style megafarm".
He said he supported the recommendation for refusal on climate and nature grounds.
Terry Jermy, Labour MP for South West Norfolk, who won the seat from former prime minister Liz Truss last year, said constituents were "rightly concerned" about the scheme.
Michael Bull, of the Cranswick Objection Group, raised concerns about ammonia and the "level of odour".
Martin French, chairman of Methwold Parish Council, said "feelings are running very, very high with the parishioners".
He said that the scheme would "cause so much pollution" and that he was also concerned about traffic.
Barry Lock, managing director of Cranswick in East Anglia, told the meeting: "This farm has been rearing livestock since the 1960s."
He said he recognised a "number of concerns have been raised" and that there had been "reports of 15,000 complaints but the reality is the majority of those are not from people who live in the local area".
Mr Lock said "over 90% of those are not local complaints - we've even had complaints from Rome, Lisbon and California".
Dr Jason Aldiss, executive director of the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers, said he supported the scheme, highlighted its animal welfare standards and said "this is not a megafarm".
Nick Allen, chief executive of the British Meat Processors Association, said the industry "needs investment" and "units such as the one proposed here today are the future".
A Cranswick spokesperson said afterwards: "We are incredibly disappointed by today's decision.
"This a bad day for the sustainable production of British meat.
"We'll now take time to review the decision and consider the options available to us."