A YEAR-LONG row over controversial plans to build a high technology farm near a Ribble Valley hamlet is set to reach boiling point next week.

Residents of Withgill Fold have said they will protest against Bashall Eaves farmer Barry Barnes' plans to integrate his two farms at Withgill, increase his livestock and introduce state-of-the-art milking technology.

Now it has been revealed that the application is due to be discussed by Ribble Valley Borough Council's planning sub-committee on February 1. The row first erupted in April last year when residents expressed concerns about the welfare of cows, which they claim will be cooped up in new units with zero-grazing, and the farm's impact on the environment.

Mr Barnes was advised to prepare an environmental impact study and in December the council appointed a Chester-based consultancy to help it judge the application.

The residents' group has also appointed a specialist consultant to argue their case.

The Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley branch of Friends of the Earth group co-ordinator David Mortimer said: "There are elements of this proposal which ring the environmental alarm bells."

But applicant Mr Barnes, who has lived and worked on the farm for 25 years, stressed that the plans have been drawn up and modified by a wide range of specialists and that many of the opposers' comments are "grossly misleading".

He said that he has spent a lot of time and money on the application, adding: "Everything has been vetted most carefully and the new buildings will mean that noise and pollution are kept very low. The cows are currently living in two-star accommodation, but this new farm will mean they're upgraded to five-star."

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