Farmer 'relieved' after winning mega-dairy fight
A farmer who has won the go-ahead for a 1,000-cow mega-dairy in Mid Wales after a six-year fight today said he was "relieved but furious".
Fraser Jones was given permission yesterday to build the dairy at his Lower Leighton Farm at Leighton, near Welshpool, after a High Court Judicial Review.
Judge Gary Hickinbottom announced at Welshpool Magistrates Court that an appeal by the World Society for the Protection of Animals had been dismissed.
Mr Jones, 31, was granted permission to build the farm earlier this year by Welsh Assembly planning minister Carl Sargeant following a public inquiry in April 2013.
But the WSPA appealed, saying the economic benefits the dairy would bring would not outweigh the detrimental impact it would have on the landscape.
However, Judge Hickinbottom dismissed the claim and ruled that Mr Jones could build the dairy, which he says will create eight or nine jobs.
But while pleased with the outcome, Mr Jones hit out at the delays which he says could have cost him his business.
He said:
"I am relieved but furious though. It is six years since I first put the plans on the table and I have had no help from Powys County Council and this has dragged on long enough."
He added: "I am angry it has taken so long to go through the application stage, the public inquiry and now the appeal, but I am thankful to Judge Hickinbottom that he has seen the benefits too."
Mr Jones said the application process had cost him in the region of £200,000, with WSPA ordered to pay his £6,000 costs for the appeal. He said work will begin on the £3.5 million dairy "within weeks" and will take up to five years to complete.
