Planning applications

We expect farm-related planning applications to become more common in the future, as many sectors of the farming industry seek to expand in an attempt to remain viable. The recent widespread media and public interest highlight the need for animal welfare to be part of the planning process.

As the government in England is currently looking at amending and improving the planning process, we believe that including animal welfare as a ‘material consideration’ for certain applications will not only protect animal welfare, but ensure that all applications are handled consistently regardless of whether the application is for five dog kennels or a farming facility for 950 cows.

If animal welfare is included as a key consideration, this would help planning authorities to analyse the factual basis of any claim by those proposing or opposing large scale planning applications.