FriendBurst Blog

Following a year of campaigning against Nocton Dairies plans for a factory dairy farm in Lincolnshire, WSPA is delighted to announce that the plans have been withdrawn.

The Nocton Dairies team have published a statement citing the main cause for withdrawal as the recent objection from the Environment Agency

Their public statement, available on their website also levels criticism at groups such as WSPA and our Not in my Cuppa campaign. You can read it in full here

WSPA responds

Suzi Morris, WSPA UK Director said: “This is fantastic news and greatly welcomed by the World Society for the Protection of Animals. While the Environment Agency’s objections were the final nail in the coffin for the Nocton plans, our own research made it clear there was a huge range of reasons why Nocton should not be given the go-ahead.

“For Not in my Cuppa this was never just about Nocton, but about the wide range of reasons why mega dairies are not the answer to the problems facing the British dairy industry. This is a victory for consumers, dairy farmers and of course the cows within it and we can’t forget the Lincolnshire community which has had a narrow escape.”

The Not in my Cuppa campaign team would like to thank our alliance members (Soil Association, Campaign to Protect Rural England, 38 Degrees, Friends of the Earth and Compassion in World Farming) for supporting our campaign over this last year and helping us represent the full range of issues thrown up by mega dairies, including animal welfare, environment, human health and the rural landscape.

You can read our full case against mega dairies on our campaign site

Good news for UK farmers

Given the UK’s self sufficiency in liquid milk, Nocton’s intended dairy farm would have displaced 60-100 existing dairy farms.

WSPA hopes that the small dairy farmers and elements of the NFU who have spoken out against these plans will continue to gather support from the wider industry. Mega dairies are not in the interests of Britain’s struggling dairy farmers, many of whom do not share Nocton’s view that cows do not belong in fields.

If we are to protect the welfare of the UK dairy herd, need to invest in conventional, pasture-based systems rather than force them out of business by going large scale and intensive.

The campaign won’t stop here

WSPA would like to thank all of our WSPA supporters who signed up to Not in my Cuppa and helped us spread the word these last few months. We couldn’t have achieved this without you.

Suzi added: “We’ve won this one but won’t stop till we know factory milk from battery cows will never be allowed in Britain.”

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