See you in court

Hopes for an onshore salmon farm in Grimsby are once more in question in a High Court battle over planning procedure, as Sandy Neil reports.

A plan to build the UK’s first large-scale onshore salmon farm is in jeopardy, after animal rights campaigners won the right to challenge the local council’s consent. Their argument is that the decision in favour of the project was flawed because the council failed to take animal welfare into account.

Last November, North East Lincolnshire Council approved plans by AquaCultured Seafood to build a £120m salmon farm on former railway sidings at Grimsby docks, in the centre of England’s fish processing industry.

The pioneering fish farm – which could be the first in the UK to use recirculatory aquaculture system (RAS) for grow-out production – is intended to produce 5,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon a year, each growing to four or five kilogrammes, aimed exclusively at the UK market.

The London-based start-up, which hopes to produce its first salmon within four years, said its enclosed system would optimise fish welfare, as well as prevent disease and invasions of sea lice, which can blight open-net salmon farms. Furthermore, it will cut emissions, create jobs, and help meet the nation’s huge demand for fish.

Grimsby port artist’s impression of salmon factory

The seafood industry backed the scheme. Simon Smith, Chair of the Seafood Grimsby & Humber Alliance, said: “Having an onshore salmon farm investment in Grimsby makes eminent sense and will mean we are less reliant on overseas imports of fresh salmon. It is a stepping stone towards the UK’s food security of a healthy raw material.”

But less than a year after getting the green light, the project is now at the centre of a legal battle, after Animal Equality UK successfully sought permission in the High Court to fight the council’s decision.

Edie Bowles, solicitor at Advocates for Animals, the legal firm representing Animal Equality UK, said: “This case is all about proper scrutiny being given for planning decisions that pose huge risks, including to animal welfare.

“We are glad the judge agrees that there is an arguable case. It will hopefully be a wake-up call to other planning authorities that they need to follow the correct process.”

The “mega-farm” has attracted much interest ever since February 2023, when AquaCultured Seafood first unveiled its plans to build a 40,000 square metre RAS salmon grow-out facility, to include a processing factory, on an industrial site close to Grimsby’s existing seafood hub.The company picked Grimsby after spending three years looking at potential sites around the UK and visiting other RAS farms abroad, explained Director and Founder Neil Jamieson. Why?

Grimsby port

“Because of its access to fresh water and because of ABP’s (Associated British Ports) belief in using renewable energy,” he told Fish Farmer. “We were also enthused by the history of Grimsby and the fact that it has excellent support services in refrigeration, logistics, and other important matters.”

The farm will feature the latest cutting-edge technology, Jamieson added, such as a RAS filtration system from Israeli company AquaMaof, and artificial intelligence (AI). It will create at least 100 jobs, in a town where over 200 jobs were lost last year after Young’s Seafood closed one of its factories, now set to be demolished.

Peter Dalton, Co-founder and Director of the Grimsby Seafood Village project, told Fish Farmer he thought the facility would be “absolutely brilliant” for the town’s economy. He said: “Some of the arguments being used by opponents were the same as those being used against us when we wanted to build our seafood business park. Today, the seafood village is full and we have a waiting list.”

However, others have strongly opposed the plans, including people who live close by who staged a large protest at a Grimsby Town FC match in March 2023. AquaCultured Seafood held a public consultation that May outlining what it intends to do. One of the company’s directors, Mike Berthet, assured people there would be practically no noise and no smells from the site, and waste products would leave in sealed containers.

AquaCultured RAS farm plans

Fish welfare ‘not material’ to planning decision
The planning application, formally submitted in June, was recommended for approval by council planners, and councillors on the North East Lincolnshire Planning Committee consented in November.

A report said: “The proposal would represent a significant economic investment into the area, creating a number of jobs through construction and then operation as well as supporting the food processing and manufacturing businesses in the area.

“It will not cause harm to residential amenities or business amenity, the visual character of the area, drainage and flood risk, highway safety and amenity, the Humber Estuary designations, the onsite biodiversity and local wildlife site allocation.”

Crucially though, Animal Equality UK said, councillors who approved the scheme were told concerns about fish welfare should be noted, but “are not considered to be material land use planning considerations”.

The charity cited a submission to the planning committee from Mark Borthwick, a Doctoral Fellow in salmon farming, warning the farm would require high stocking densities. He said salmon ranged widely with a strong migration drive and it was unknown how they would cope in the cramped conditions of an onshore farm.

Grimsby port salmon site

His submission stated: “The industry’s hope is that by doing the whole operation under factory conditions, they can control disease. However, as has been abundantly established in other farming environments, there is no truly biosecure factory farm and other diseases will emerge.”

At the High Court in September, Animal Equality UK was granted permission to challenge the council’s decision, after it argued animal welfare could be considered during the planning process, and the councillors were misdirected by officials.

The charity explained: “In a bid to stop the construction of the site, 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.”

The council said it would not comment while legal proceedings were continuing. AquaCultured Seafood also said the company would not be commenting and added: “We await the result of due process.”

The case will now proceed to a full judicial review, and the court will examine whether the council’s approval of the on-land salmon farm was lawful or not. Both sides will present detailed arguments and evidence, and if the court finds the decision unlawful, councillors will need to reassess the planning application.