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A new animal by-product storage plant, “conducive to a modern licensed knacker establishment”, has been proposed for the Staffordshire Moorlands.
A planning application has been submitted to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council for the construction of an agricultural-style building and change of use to general industrial, storage and distribution, to use the buildings for handling and storage plant of animal by-products and derived products at Crossways Farm, Morridge Top Road, Onecote.
The site sits near the junction off the B5053 road and overlooks Bottomhouse. The application has already raised objections with people submitting concerns about the impact the development would have on the area and damage to the tourist trade, though some farmers have supported the proposals.
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A design and access statement submitted by Andrew Dukesell of DBD Architectural Consultancy Ltd, on behalf of the applicant Mark Flanders, said: “The site is positioned in an open countryside location approximately 1.3 miles south of the settlement of Onecote and approximately 4.5 miles south-east of Leek.
“The proposal is to build a bespoke purpose designed portal framed agricultural building on site for use of handling and storage plant of animal by-products and derived products.
“The building shall remain unheated, and uninsulated with exception to the office and welfare area formed using a corrugated cement cladding panel which shall maintain cooler temperatures naturally internally even when the weather outside is warmer. To comply with the relevant regulations, the building must be vermin proof.
“The middle section of the building would be where the vans and lorries carrying the carcasses would be parked whilst unloading. Once the vehicle is in the building, then the doors would be closed fully whilst the vehicle is emptied and pressure washed clean, either to return to the road for another collection elsewhere or parked overnight if required.
“The internal floor of the main bay and the lorry bay would be laid to fall to a linear drainage channel to collect the water from cleaning down.
“The main bay shall be split into four spaces across the width of the building, with the drainage channel creating the separation, allowing separate areas to be washed down relative to the activity that has been carried out beforehand.
“The farm is far away from a mains sewer system. There is an existing septic tank system on the site serving a WC in the main agricultural barn. The proposed WCs and shower and kitchen waste water would be drained into the existing septic tank and then into drainage field in the normal manner associated with rural properties.
“The waste water and liquids generated from the handling of the carcasses and resultant wash down of vehicles and equipment afterwards is to be taken into below ground drain tanks, similar to a cesspool. When full the waste water is pumped out into a tanker and taken away.
“The waste water is tested, if there is a suitable nutritional value as defined by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, this can be spread on farmland in the same manner as farm manure. Excess or non-nutritional waste water would be taken by tanker to a Severn Trent sewage treatment/wastewater treatment facility in an appropriate tanker.
“Within the main area shall be a section for the veterinarians to work, having a set of stainless steel wheeled worktops similar to those in a commercial kitchen, that can be set up to suit the number of carcasses being tested with suitable separation to avoid any cross contamination. A suspended track butchers-type hook and rail system shall be in operation to assist with transporting the carcasses.
“Once the post mortem is completed the carcass is taken to the lorry for disposal at a rendering site.
“The size of the facility is suitable to carry out the necessary work supporting the local and wider farming community and conducive to a modern licensed knacker establishment.
“The proposed unit is designed to allow for the vehicles carrying the carcasses from farms that can be enclosed within the building and the doors to the building to be fully closed before the doors to the vehicle load area are opened for unloading. Animal by-products must be transported in covered leakproof containers/vehicles.”
The plans say the building will look like a farm barn, close to the existing cluster of buildings, at the top side of the yard to allow vehicle access into the building via the three roller shutter doors. The layout of the proposed building provides clean facilities in the first bay.
“These include a small office for all the inevitable admin, storage, washing/welfare facilities and a canteen area.
“The remainder of the building is an open area for completing the transportation of waste to and from the specialist vehicles within the containment of the building. The end bay, which is a partially underground construction, will house the articulated lorry which will remove the waste from the site.”
A decision is expected by planners within the next eight weeks.
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