Greens have reacted strongly to a decision by Planning Minister Carl Sargeant, which deliberately puts money before animal welfare.
The planning application for a 1000 herd dairy farm in Powys had previously been refused by both the local council and the Planning inspector, who had recommended that consent should not be given on several grounds, including animal welfare.
Pippa Bartolotti, Wales Green Party Leader said, “This is a very sad day for democracy, and sad for all those who have fought against this horrible plan, but most of all it sad for the poor cows who will be pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, and never see a blade of grass. Carl Sargeant falls into that dark pit which puts money before everything. If an economic argument takes precedence over animal welfare, what sort of society will we become?
“This industrial scale dairy is a bad move. It will lead to the demise of smaller and more environmentally sustainable farms at a time when many farmers are already struggling to make ends meet.”
Grazing is natural for cows. A large number of scientific studies have shown that cows kept on pasture are healthier. With Fraser Jones’s cows eating no fresh grass, there are major animal welfare concerns about this proposal.
There are also major environmental concerns because the cows will instead be eating food grown on land that could have been used for food production for people. Cows not eating grass are fed GM fodder which then enters the human food chain.
Food production systems are now seen as part of a globalised market, where the trend is for more industrialisation. This puts the profits of multinationals before the health of people, animals, and the quality of food we eat.
http://greenparty.org.uk/policies.html