Animal rights group granted judicial review against Grimsby salmon farm plan

Plans to build an £80m-plus land-based salmon farm in Grimsby face an extra hurdle following a High Court decision to grant a judicial review of the local authority’s planning decision in favour of the project.

The case was brought by the organisation Animal Equality UK, which has questioned the decision by North East Lincolnshire (Grimsby and Cleethorpes) Council, which granted permission for the project almost a year ago.

Animal Equality will argue that the council’s planning officers misdirected their committee by ruling that animal welfare concerns could not be considered as material factors in the decision-making process.

The company behind the project, AquaCultured Seafood, plans to produce up to 5,000 tones of Atlantic salmon for the UK market within the next three to four years, in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility (pictured).

It will create 80 to 100 full time jobs plus many more ancillary jobs and put what was once Britain’s largest fishing port firmly back on the seafood map.

The site is on designated seafood industry development land, currently scrub, although it is only a few hundred yards from the neighbouring seaside resort of Cleethorpes where Blundell Park, the home of Grimsby Town FC, is situated.

Grimsby is still the UK’s largest seafood processing hub but a salmon farm would have given it a huge lift in terms of the local economy.

But the project now faces further delay and the possibility of not going ahead.

AquaCultured Seafood, which is not a party to the judicial review case, has declined to comment. A spokesperson said: “We await the result of due process.”

Before the latest court hearing there had been rumours that a rare orange wall butterfly had been discovered on the site which, if correct, might also have held things up.

Abigail Penny, Executive Director, Animal Equality (right) celebrates outside the court with colleagues

It should also be noted that Animal Equality is opposed to salmon farming whether on land or on coasts and fjords.

It said: “In a bid to stop the construction of the site – put forward by start-up firm AquaCultured Seafood Ltd. – Animal Equality now intends to argue in court that the Committee’s decision to permit the site’s construction was unlawful, with Committee Members being told they could not take into account animal welfare.

“As a result, we believe that the highly likely catastrophic and irreversible animal welfare ramifications were not included within their decision-making process.”

During the original planning meeting, Animal Equality UK’s Executive Director, Abigail Penny, told the Committee: “Just like in any factory farm, in an artificial environment like this, an accidental flick of a switch can be catastrophic for the animals.”

Recently, drone footage taken by Animal Equality showing alleged mistreatment at three marine salmon farms in Scotland has led to the farms’ RSPC Assured status being suspended pending investigation.