Cranswick’s call to weaken planning rules is a threat to animals and our environment

The company made the appeal alongside its latest annual results, which showed record-breaking profits of £198 million and over £2.7 billion in revenue, much of it driven by growing pork exports to China.

But Cranswick’s plea for more “streamlined” planning laws comes just weeks after it was exposed for horrific animal abuse at North Moor Farm and while one of its sites, Cherry Tree Farm, is under investigation for manure-related pollution. The timing raises serious concerns.

Cranswick claims that planning delays threaten food security. In reality, this is a push to fast-track the expansion of intensive farming. Factory farms like those operated by Cranswick are not a solution to the UK’s food needs, they are part of the problem.

These high-output, low-welfare systems depend on imported feed, tightly confined animals that endure horrific conditions, and energy-intensive infrastructure. They are vulnerable to global supply shocks and cause significant harm to animals, communities, and the environment.

Planning regulations are one of the last democratic tools local people have to protect their communities from the worst impacts of industrial agriculture from pollution and overuse of water to animal suffering and biodiversity loss. Weakening these safeguards would silence public opposition and pave the way for more factory farms.

Instead of dismantling planning protections, the UK government should be strengthening them and using them to support the shift to a fairer, more resilient food system away from factory farming. That means supporting farmers to adopt higher-welfare, nature-friendly methods that genuinely deliver food security, protect animals, and restore the natural world. These are the farms we need to invest in not the industrial sheds of companies like Cranswick.

Find out more about a Just Transition for UK Farmers

Factory farming has no place in a humane, sustainable future. And no amount of lobbying should override the public’s right to challenge it.