20 MONTHS AND STILL NO PERMIT
The general consensus is a permit will be issued for “MEGA EGG PRODUCTION”
I am of the firm belief that if the application is not right to start with then it will never be right
20 months this has been going on and yet the Environment Agency are still trying to get the correct information, must be like pulling hen’s teeth, no pun intended!!
The permit process has been a bit of an eye opener on many levels; however, the biggest concern is how this process actually works. The exchange of information from all sides eventually forms the basis of a permit. In layman’s terms this means the EA asks a question, the applicant gives an answer!! And that’s about it, any detraction from what’s been agreed MAY cause a breach of permit, warnings are issued and any reoccurrence will be dealt with via a slap on the wrist and if it’s a significant breach, the applicants get a fine and free to continue about their day. The sole beneficiaries of any fines are the EA not the poor folk who are suffering the detriment, however, the EA want the locals to monitor and submit evidence and reports should any breach occur, all a bit one sided if you ask me!
With the threat of Brexit and the UK being 85% self sufficient in Egg production and only 40% self sufficient in veg production makes this proposal a non starter in my opinion.
Antibiotic resistance and threats to water supplies, Noise, light and air pollution, animal welfare and transport issues, biodiversity and landscape threats the list goes on and on.
A recent article about food waste was an eye opener to say the least.
Global food shortages, soaring prices and alarm over the environment. But every day, Britain throws away 220,000 loaves of bread, 1.6m bananas, 5,500 chickens, 5.1m potatoes, 660,000 eggs, 1.2m sausages and 1.3m yoghurts.
This proposal is for the production of 100,000 eggs per day, yet we throw away 660,000, hardly a sound business venture is it!
I guess the next few weeks will indicate if the applicants get a PERMIT TO POLLUTE.