“Over the last year or so we have seen the biggest welfare-focused change in the industry in this generation, with a voluntary reduction in stocking density from 38kg to 30kg per square metre.”

“The poultry sector’s planning difficulties are largely driven by organised opposition, including local people, who often raise concerns over water pollution, air quality and the climate crisis.”

“Agriculture is the leading cause of water pollution in the UK. The Environment Agency estimated last year that it accounts for 70% of nitrate pollution and 25-30% of phosphorus pollution. Runoff from intensive poultry units is one contributor to that wider pollution burden.”

“Last year councillors in Norfolk rejected plans by the food producer Cranswick to build what would have been one of Europe’s biggest chicken farms, which would have housed nearly 900,000 birds at a time. Planning officers said the company failed “to demonstrate that the development would not result in significant adverse effects on protected sites”.”

“In a briefing for a livestock industry roundtable with the then Defra minister Daniel Zeichner in June last year, the BPC argued for early intervention by the Planning Inspectorate to minimise delays. It said: “Having centralised oversight would also bring objectivity into a system where naysayers, particularly via social media, have a disproportionate sway in the decisionmaking process, but have little or no responsibility to provide evidence or justification.””

“Communities Against Factory Farming has said the proposed planning regime “risks embedding decades of industrial livestock land use in rural and green belt locations without adequate scrutiny”.”

“A government spokesperson said: “We reject that our NPPF proposals are linked to industry lobbying.””