Controversial abattoir's expansion plan refused

An abattoir shut down by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) following an investigation into animal welfare breaches has had a retrospective application to expand the site refused.

T&S Abattoir, in the village of Arley, had asked North Warwickshire Borough Council for permission for changes which have already been made to its building.

But the planning committee rejected the request, highlighting concerns with road safety as well as noise and odours.

The abattoir's licence had already been revoked after an animal rights activist released footage filmed covertly at the site. Managers said steps were taken to ensure animal welfare.

Following the investigation, an FSA panel concluded that there had been a failure to prevent serious animal welfare incidents.

People living nearby have also already called for the abattoir, which was previously a butcher's shop, to be closed.

Under its former ownership, the business did its own slaughtering but the council's planning report said an average of fewer than 3,900 animals per year were killed there over 14 years.

The takeover led to more than 10 times that volume of animals being slaughtered there in a year from March 2024, across four days instead of one and for longer hours.

Those increases formed part of the council's recommendation for retrospective planning permission to be refused, as a report for the authority said the rise caused "significant and demonstrable harm to residential amenity and highway safety".

Warwickshire County Council – the body responsible for highways advice on planning matters – said a road safety audit would be required due to concerns over the volume and safety of lorry movements.

The borough council's environmental health experts also wanted an adequate noise management plan to be carried out and were concerned by smells and visual intrusion.

Representing the abattoir, Gulraiz Siddique said a road safety audit was under way and that vehicle tracking information had shown lorries could "safely and effectively exit the site" and asked for a decision to be deferred to address the remaining concerns.

But Micheala Jackson, the Labour councillor for Arley and Whiteacre, said: "This is a small village, not an industrial estate.

"Such traffic movements are entirely inappropriate. Lorries are frequently blocking access for other traffic causing disruption and frustration for residents just trying to go about their daily lives."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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