On a night when a Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk-backed anti-immigration protest in Harrogate fell flat, about 60 people turned out in a village near Ripon to make their feelings known about an entirely different issue.

Forest Poultry Ltd wants to create one of the biggest chicken farms in the country at Underlands Lane, Melmerby, as revealed by the Stray Ferret last month.

It has submitted plans to North Yorkshire Council to build six poultry houses, each 126 metres long and 25 metres wide, which would rear 2.7 million birds a year for meat production.

The campaign group Communities Against Factory Farming organised last night’s meeting in Melmerby, which not only attracted residents from the village but also from downwind locations Baldersby and Rainton concerned about the potential odour on top of everything else.

Maya Pardo, co-founder of Communities Against Factory Farming, opened by saying its legal actions had halted three factory farms.

Ms Pardo said residents were often “shocked by the impact of factory farms on their lives”, which include “being able to taste the urine of pigs when you are at home eating” and homes filled with flies.

She then asked what concerned people most about the Melmerby proposal. One woman immediately cited animal welfare but other concerns ranged from bird flu and carbon emissions to the volume of lorry movements.

'Monstrous' scale

An environmental statement supporting the application says the development would produce 3,968 tonnes of poultry manure per year, which will be sent to Thetford Power Station in Norfolk, which would contribute to the 1,815 two-way trips generated by the site each year.

Councillor Nick Brown, a Conservative whose Wathvale & Bishop Monkton division on North Yorkshire Council includes Melmerby, was there to “listen and observe”.

Cllr Brown told the meeting that because he is likely to adjudicate on the application, he could not make any comments for or against the proposal, but he said he would request the scientific information contained in the planning documents be reproduced in “layman’s language”.

One man described the scale of the proposal as “monstrous” and said he feared “we will be walking with facemasks in the countryside”.

So far, the council consultation has attracted 84 objections and one expression of support.

Although the consultation deadline has passed, Ms Pardo said she had never known a local authority ignore comments sent after the deadline and urged those present to continue to make their feelings known.

Objections, she added, must give valid planning reasons.

'Sustainable form of development'

Forest Poultry claims the proposed development “represents a sustainable and policy-compliant form of agricultural development within a suitable rural location” and would reduce dependency on imported chickens.

It says the scheme would “deliver biodiversity net gain, operate efficiently, and integrate appropriately within its surroundings”.

The company received a boost when the Environment Agency’s consultation response said it had no objections and added: “The applicant operates several poultry sites in the area, and all sites have a good compliance history.”

Ms Pardo urged people at the meeting to form a residents’ group to coordinate efforts and consider a judicial review, which she said would cost at least £30,000 plus £5,000 costs if they lost.

Conservative and Reform UK-led councils, she said, were more likely to approve factory farms. North Yorkshire Council is controlled by a Conservative and Independents group, with the next elections due in May 2027.

As people left, there was a sense that a lengthy battle was brewing.